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Post by Game Master on Jan 15, 2014 15:05:49 GMT -6
The Flight of the Valiant
Scene: Docking Bay 93 of the Citadel Time: Morning Location: The Valiant GM Note: Picture the docking back from Mass Effect 1, with how Shepard got in and out of the Normandy.
The docking bay was full of life and activity. Workers were scurrying around, finishing up last minute work on The Valiant. Eezo supplies were checked and double checked. Probes circled the hull, sending out a dim blue laser spread over the hull to check for any cracks or imperfections. Workers floated under the mass accelerator cannon, measuring the mammoth cylinder to check for warping. Engineers rushed in and out of the ship, conducting system checks for all major functions on the ship. All this and so much more, it resembled an active beehive. All this was common procedure for the final check before ships were allowed to undock.
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This is the set up for Chapter 2. - If the PCs approach the ship, they will be greeted by Esteban and escorted in by one of the ship's crew. Please see the dossier on The Valiant for information on the ship layout. The PC should notice that there was approximately a half-dozen crew members present on the Main Level. - If the PCs wish to look around the dock... additional GM posts will be needed.
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Jan 15, 2014 18:11:40 GMT -6
Artificial sunlight from an unseen star shone through the window of Esteban Bridges, giving his spartan bedroom a golden tint. The light blessed the bed and armorire with a golden aura, highlight every crease in the bedsheets and every groove on the doors. It also warmed the room to a comfortable temperature, allowing Esteban to go shirtless as he exited the bathroom after taking a hot shower. Beads of water decorated his hairy, sculpted chest, glistening in the ambient glow now consuming his room. He took his time, walking with purpose toward his armorire. He knew hot showers and warm rooms were a luxury not easily afforded on mercenary ships, so he enjoyed what he had right now: a steamy bathroom and plush carpeting that was comfortable to walk on.. With some regret, Esteban pulled the doors to his armorire open. The sunlight washed away the darkness within, revealing his Duelist Armor. He smiled, taking a closer look at the armor, the same armor that saw him through some difficult battles. He tapped his left wrist, calling forth the hard orange light of his omnitool, and waved it downward over the suit of armor. The Engineer within him would not allow him to put the armor on without conducting a system check first. He took a look through the readouts, not finding anything out of the ordinary. Of course, he expected the readout to be perfect. He spent years customizing every part of the armor. If there were anything wrong with it, he would know.
Esteban put on a plain black cotton shirt and dark blue khaki pants before donning his light Duelist armor. It was a quick process, one that Esteban did without much thought. Soon he was ready to do.
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Some time later
Esteban stood at attention before the entrance to the Valiant, waiting for the first mercenary to arrive. It was a very hectic morning, forced to quickly hire a half-dozen crew members. Corwin failed to tell him that the Valiant did not have a crew and was run fully by a series of VI programs. That did not sit well with Esteban. Fortunately, he worked with the crew before. They were now inside familiarizing themselves with the layout of the ship.
He checked his omnitool for the time, tapping his foot impatiently. He wanted to get going.
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Post by Maelstrom on Jan 16, 2014 0:28:56 GMT -6
"Seems that we're always the first to arrive," Maelstrom chuckled to Esteban, seeming to appear out of nowhere, as he leaned against the opposite side of the entrance. He wondered if Bridges had let his expectations cloud his awareness of his surroundings or if he just did not consider those he was already familiar with to be a threat. Either could prove fatal before the mission was over.
Before Bridges could say anything, he said, "Spent the night in the shuttle bay. Got the Vengeance sitting down there, ready to go. Had my VI tap into C-Sec's cameras for this section. Noticed you waiting out here."
He pulled his SMG as he waited, examining the technology for any malfunctions. Emily had already run a full series of system checks on his equipment. He just liked his eyes to confirm her findings.
"I should be insulted," she said over his comms, referencing his double-check.
He chose not to answer, not wanting to give away to his employer just how often the VI communicated with him. Others might find the situation odd. Instead, he waved a hand in front of his face, knowing that the audiovisual device he had mounted over his right ear would let her see the signal.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 2:09:45 GMT -6
Arcturus walked up toward the entrance, seeing that his employer and Maelstrom were already there. "Hmm, what is that human saying? Early birds get their...worms?" He asked, carrying a bag of most of his gear, while he carried his weapons on his back and his pistol at his side. He was also armed with a trench knife that was strapped over the left side of his chest plate of his armor, for easier access.
The traditional Turian knife passed down to him from generation to generation. It may be old, but the blade was still very sharp. He figured he might need it, even though he had a weapon included in his omni-tool. The thing was, he enjoyed traditional weapons the most, because they were quiet, unlike the sound his omni-tool would make if he activated the blade.
"Most of your human sayings are strange, but I understand them."
He shrugged, looking around. Before he left, he overheard on the news that C-SEC found the injured Asari wandering around aimlessly, rambling on about a Turian who attacked her, but also pretty much told the officers that she was attacked because she wanted his credits and would kill him for the drugs she wanted. Then she pretty much passed out. So far, no one knew who did it. Not that it mattered to him...
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Post by Maelstrom on Jan 16, 2014 2:24:19 GMT -6
"Most of your human saying are strange, but I understand them," Arcturus said. He shrugged, looking around.
A random story aired on the news about some overnight violence. Not the story Maelstrom had been waiting for. If anyone aired a story about his exploit last night, he would need to take extra caution on this mission. He never knew who Cerberus might use to come after him.
Between stories, Maelstrom called over his shoulder, "Those of us who use such expressions appreciate the effort. I'm hoping to expand my own repertoire of citadel-race expressions on this mission."
Maelstrom waited a minute before deciding he had made enough of an appearance before his employer. He left, making his way straight for the galley. The cooking facilities on the ship were almost certain to be better equipped than his shuttle, and he'd bought himself some genuine earth breakfast food the night before. This morning, for some reason, he felt like having a small feast.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 2:42:26 GMT -6
Iskra stepped out of the shadows of the overhang, now visible to Esteban from his spot up the ramp. There are only three, she breaths, I can handle that many.
With her Widow strung to her back and the rolling bag in her hand, she began walking towards the small group. Parr, the varren that had attacked her not a few hours ago, bounced around her, snapping at the bag as if it was some game. She was surprised at how comfortable she felt around the animal already, even after he jumped on her in the middle of the night to lay down.
She tried to ignore the looks as she finally approached her employer, giving him a slight nod in greeting, ignoring Parr as he crouched low behind her, wagging his tail, waiting for the bag to move again.
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Jan 16, 2014 3:04:18 GMT -6
Shala stepped into the docking bay and saw a drell approaching the ship, carrying a large rifle and a varren at…his? her?…side. She frowned, not remembering one at the meeting last night…
Wait, there had been one at the bar. Was it the same one? She couldn’t be sure.
Then she saw the ship, and the drell was the furthest thing from her mind. It was turian in design, all straight lines, sleek and streamlined. She wondered if there were any like it in the Fleet. There probably was, bought from a dealer in used ships, and needing a lot of modifications to accommodate its new owners. But this one looked much newer, well-maintained, and if there were any modifications, they were either inside the ship or well-concealed.
It surprised her to see her employer wearing armor. Was he coming along as well? If so, that would speak well not only of his character but also his intentions.
She approached him, gently tugging at the foodstores her mother had provided. She quickly discovered that they were far too heavy for her, but she had jury-rigged a few gravity-reduction devices that made them virtually weightless.
“Hello, Esteban Bridges,” she said. “Are you wearing armor because you are coming with us?”
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 3:19:56 GMT -6
Between stories, Maelstrom called over his shoulder, "Those of us who use such expressions appreciate the effort. I'm hoping to expand my own repertoire of citadel-race expressions on this mission."
"I'm sure you will be able to with us," Arcturus replied, looking around still, and noticed two more approaching. "I'm looking forward to hearing more of your race's expressions as well..."
He trailed off, noticing a varren following the same Drell who was at Chora's Den last night during the meeting that he wasn't introduced to. Behind her, he noticed the Quarian who made a good impression on him after she made that one Batarian leave.
He nodded at the two, gazed down at the varren, and then slowly looked up at the Drell.
"Interesting pet," he asked, "Where did you get it, uh...sorry, I didn't get your name. I saw that you were at the bar during the meeting last night, but wasn't sure if you were part of the crew the human was hiring."
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 3:30:37 GMT -6
“Dr. Iskra Narei.” She introduced herself, giving the Turian a nod. Parr had finally given up on the game, staring up at all the new people.
“This is Parr. I’m guessing he was smuggled here on a ship. He attacked me on the way to collect my research.” She answered matter of factly, taking the opporitunity to look at the ship and avoiding eye contact with the steadily growing group.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 3:40:04 GMT -6
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Iskra Narei," The Turian then introduced himself, "I'm Arcturus Tilo." He glanced up at her, and then went to a knee to pet the Varren for a moment. He always wanted one.
"Parr, huh?" He stood up, and watched as she looked at the ship. "Smugglers just love to bring everything here; especially for those who live on the Citadel because they don't want fish for pets." He shrugged.
"What was the research, if you don't mind me asking?"
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Jan 16, 2014 4:02:06 GMT -6
Esteban stood at attention to the side of the entrance, careful to let the dock workers come and go from the refurbished Turian frigate. He saw no need to make their job any harder than it already was. He was watching one of them in particular, an Asari who was entering the ship, when a voice came from the side.
"Seems that we're always the first to arrive," Maelstrom chuckled to Esteban, seeming to appear out of nowhere, as he leaned against the opposite side of the entrance. Before Bridges could say anything, he said, "Spent the night in the shuttle bay. Got the Vengeance sitting down there, ready to go. Had my VI tap into C-Sec's cameras for this section. Noticed you waiting out here."
Arcturus approached next while Esteban stared blankly at Maelstrom in disbelief. He almost missed the Turian's friendly greeting. "Hmm, what is that human saying? Early birds get their...worms?" He asked, carrying a bag full of what Esteban assumed was the Turian's gear. "Most of your human sayings are strange, but I understand them."
Esteban greeted Arcturus with a nod and brief smile, looking past him at the approaching Drell, carrying some of her belongings and being followed by her..... pet. He hoped it was housebroken. But he'd worry about that later on. The female Quarian came up next with a friendly greeting of her own.
“Hello, Esteban Bridges,” she said. “Are you wearing armor because you are coming with us?”
"Yes I am," he answered, nodding a greeting to her. He was still trying to formulate a response to Maelstrom, so he absentmindedly extended his hand toward the Quarian... not realizing what he was doing until it was too late. He hid his reaction, vowing to head to the captain's quarters as soon as he could to wash his hand.
So while the interactions were going on between some of the mercenaries, Esteban excused himself from Shala to speak with Maelstrom quietly. He tried to contain his anger, but what occurred was unacceptable. "C-Sec have their own VIs," he spoke coldly, matter of factly. "And centuries of experience with tracking and counter-espionage measures. It was an unnecessary risk that could have gotten you arrested, caused this docking bay to go into lockdown, or worse. It could have delayed the mission. I am disappointed."
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Jan 16, 2014 4:48:41 GMT -6
Shala regarded Esteban Bridge’s hand with more than a little concern. Infection was one of the primary concerns of her people, right after maintaining the Fleet, so most bodily contact was avoided. But she knew this was a favored form of greeting among humans, and it was important to be on good terms with the captain, even if he did not call himself that.
Just as she reached out to accept his hand, the human calling himself Maelstrom, the one who said he was glad to meet her, approached and spoke to the captain, something about tapping into C-sec’s cameras. She saw a look flash across the captain’s face, a look she would have missed had she not been looking. She did not know what it was, given her limited contact with humans, but he then took Maelstrom aside and spoke to him quietly.
Must be important, she thought as she boarded the ship and made her way to the sleeping quarters, which she knew from memory to be on the top level, accessed by stairs in the rear of the deck. Certainly one advantage of being a Quarian, you know the layout of most ships even before setting foot on them.
She just hoped the batarian did not choose a sleep pod next to hers. But then again, what are combat drones and sentry turrets for, if not to protect me?
A rare smile crossed her face.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 5:00:23 GMT -6
"What was the research, if you don't mind me asking?"
Iskra didn’t know if the Turian was truly interested in what she studied or if he was just being polite. Still, she appreciated the interest, real or not. Talking about one of her few passions always made her more comfortable.
“My doctorate is in Biology. I started research on the Drell homeworld Rakhana 4 years ago in hopes of bringing life to it once again.”
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Post by Eric Lysander on Jan 16, 2014 11:18:16 GMT -6
"Make way... hot stuff comin' through..."
The hoverpallete had its proximity blinkers and alarms going as it steered through the bustle of dockworkers and techs on final approach to the Valiant. Eric spotted Esteban by the entrance, decked out in his own custom armor. It appeared that half the mercenaries were already there. As he brought his hoverpallete to a stop before them, he wondered how exactly he should broach the subject of his device to Esteban. Seeing how bluntness seemed to be the recurring theme during his time on the Citadel, he determined that angle would suffice.
"Good mornin' class," he said as he powered down his transport and hopped off his seat. Surveying the group, he paused at the drell scientist with a slight smile and a gleam in his eye.
“You’re new…”
He exhaled and then eyed the ship. “Nice looking ship you’ve got there, Mr. B. Listen, there’s something I need to-“
Eric then noticed out of the corner of his eye the varren seated by its master after the turian mercenary moved away from it.
“Oh, cool!” the demolitions expert directed a finger at the animal. “We’ve got a mascot! Always good luck on a ship, assuming of course you didn’t change the ship’s name. What’s his name…?”
Eric cocked and pivoted his head, trying to assess the varren’s gender. “Or her name?”
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Jan 16, 2014 12:09:35 GMT -6
To her surprise, Shala found none of the sleeping pods claimed, so she took the one in the corner furthest away from the door. She was also glad that there was a storage locker assigned to her pod. She opened one of the food storage packs her mother had provided and was surprised to see her favorite quilt had been packed away.
It was older than she was, worn in some places, no doubt having several owners before her, as was the custom of her people. Sewn into it in her language was “Rannoch”.
“You see, Shala?” her father said as he wrapped it around her, a gift on her fifth birthday. “No matter where you go, you carry our home with you.”
She allowed herself a moment of peace before putting it away. There would be time for reminiscing later. Time to get to work, time to serve Esteban Bridges vas…
What was the ship’s name?
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Post by Maelstrom on Jan 16, 2014 14:53:01 GMT -6
Maelstrom did his best to hold onto a jovial expression as he replied, "Mr. Bridges, I don't sleep if I don't have eyes on all sides of me. Eyes I trust. Now, my VI knows the backdoor access points into C-Sec's systems. So long as you stay away from official records and don't try to alter the feeds, their VI's are pretty much oblivious so long as you use those backdoors."
"Now, if you'd rather I stay out of the systems of stations we dock at, we can discuss setting up a tap from your vessel's sensors to my shuttle's VI. I realize, though, that to certain parties this would invite an attempt to place monitoring programs aboard my ship. You might want to warn people that my VI is aggressive in its self-defense protocols. Generates nasty surprises for anyone who tries messing with her. One quarian mechanist in particular comes to mind. Had to be rushed to the hospital after all his suit's systems spontaneously overloaded. Got a nasty shock to boot."
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Post by dargene on Jan 16, 2014 14:53:33 GMT -6
Meldom had arrived before everyone else, yet he did not want to be the first one as it could appear that he was over eager, yet as more and more people showed up he felt it was time, to approach himself, he grabbed his satchel off the box he was sitting on and signaled to the VI mechs to move it, he walked up to the group with the mechs right behind.
"Greetings" he spoke softly and kindly "Pleasure to see you all again" he seemed more relaxed then at the bar "I assume that after i left more came" Meldom looks at Esteban "Sorry about my hasty departure, unavoidable" he looks at everyone in turn before noticing the varren and smiled "Varren uncommon on citadel, illegal even, smuggled in i assume ?" he asks as he kneels down to pet it softly "Always liked varren, others see mindless pest, i see creature of potential, whos is it?" he reaches into his pocket and produces some form of snack and feeds it to him he continues to pet him like he was a normal dog, after awhile of petting and talking to the varren he stands up and coughs "Anyway.." he says pointing to the mechs carrying the metal crate "where can this be placed , somewhere safe that is ?"
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 16:27:26 GMT -6
“My doctorate is in Biology. I started research on the Drell homeworld Rakhana 4 years ago in hopes of bringing life to it once again.”
"Ah, Rakhana," Arcturus spoke rather solemnly. "It's still a shame what happened in your home-world. I can't imagine what it's like, but I'm sure that could happen anywhere. Environmental damage is bad enough, but the wars...wars are worse." He sighed. "I'm not really good at biology, but maybe things can regrow if you and others keep up your research...maybe not in our lifetime, but perhaps in others, Rakhana will be back to normal. There's always hope in things that seem completely lost to us."
"Anyway, good to meet you, Doctor," The Turian said to Iskra. "I'm going to head inside and find the crew quarters to set things up. We can talk more if you want."
He glanced over at the one named Eric as the human approached, given him a nod, before excusing himself to go inside the ship.
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Jan 16, 2014 17:26:41 GMT -6
Esteban's cold demeanor melted away, confident he made his point. While he did not warm up, he resumed his normal business-like behavior. He kept his voice low so not to make it seem like there was any disagreements.
"In order for me to grant access, I have to ensure Mister Havens property is protected," Esteban explained calmly, looking over to the ship. "I need to inspect your VI's programming and mainframe to guarantee ship safety."
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Post by Maelstrom on Jan 16, 2014 20:05:09 GMT -6
"In order for me to grant access, I have to ensure Mister Havens property is protected. I need to inspect your VI's programming and mainframe to guarantee ship safety."
Maelstrom laughed out loud to mask his unease at the suggestion. "Like hell. I let someone take a look at my VI's programming, I'm giving them an invitation to hack her at their leisure. That VI's the only thing that has my back when I sleep. I'm not giving anyone a chance to influence it in the least."
Waving a hand dismissively, Maelstrom said, "We're going to leave here by the end of the day, and it's a moot point in deep space. The Vengeance will detect the vibrations in the ship's hull if you dock with someone else, and there's no other way anyone will be getting on the ship. That'll give you until next time we dock at a station to figure out something that will work for you."
Opening the airlock, Maelstrom said, "I'm going to go make myself some breakfast now. Been a while since I've had a really good meal."
"I don't think he likes me," Emily said through Maelstrom's comms unit as he closed the airlock behind himself.
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