|
Post by dargene on Jan 17, 2014 19:37:04 GMT -6
“My degree is in Biology.”
"Ah Biology, Almost did that on Sur'kesh, decided on Chemistry, creating things out of other things, its.." he smiled for a brief second "amusing"
“I am sorry, I am being terribly rude. Is there something you needed?”
Meldom spoke softly and almost regretfully "Last mission i had was only a few weeks ago, broke my leg stupid mistake" he gestures to one of his legs "Still while it works most of the time creates.. complications, Was wondering if there was any Stimulants, to help.." He looks down "also would appreciate this kept a secret, condition not optimal but usable"
|
|
|
Post by Esteban Bridges on Jan 17, 2014 21:21:01 GMT -6
Esteban walked up to the entrance with the young lady, making sure she understood the mission and everything it entailed. It was a brief conversation, Esteban only sharing as much information as necessary. It was just Esteban's way. The entire exchange ended as River entered the Valiant. The businessman left her, heading back out to the docking-bay. He nodded a greeting at Eric as he passed with his supplies. It felt like it would be rude to talk with him as he carried quite a bit of heavy things.
Esteban looked around the docking bay, doing a mental headcount of everyone who passed. Only the Batarian and Krogan were missing.
"Mister Bridges?" Esteban heard a shout from his side. "May I speak with you a moment?"
The businessman turned slowly, crossing his arms across his armored chest. He leaned against his back leg, looking quite annoyed. "What?" He asked, eyes narrowing to slits.
"Sir," the C-Sec officer began. "This Batarian..."
Esteban sneered, snapping back at the officer. He didn't like it when Maelstrom nearly wasted his time, and he's sure as hell not going to take this from a nobody in C-Sec. "Unless he committed a crime, you are in violation of Citadel Code 825A-31, Subsection Delta on Rights granted to Non-Citadel species. And I quote....'No Non-Citadel Race may be held or investigated by Citadel Security nor held for questioning based solely on race.'"
Esteban's voice dropped low, taking on a very threatening and menacing tone. "Now unless your next words are, "I am sorry Cruendi'has," I will bury you and C-Sec with enough litigation to choke an Elcor. Am I making myself clear?"
The human was stunned, unconsciously stepping back from the graying businessman. "I.. I... I'm sorry Cruendi'has," he muttered before quickly scurrying away. Esteban smirked, looking over at the Batarian.
"Any other problem you'd like taken care of?"
|
|
|
Post by Maelstrom on Jan 17, 2014 21:26:26 GMT -6
Maelstrom weighed just how much to say. He wanted to relate to the turian without giving up too much of his past.
After a moment, he said, "Ex-Alliance military myself. Marine. Commanding officer was going to recommend me for Interplanetary Combatives Training. He was an N7. I've always wondered how far I would have gotten in the N-rankings if I'd gotten the chance to go." He chuckled joylessly. "Guess I'll never know."
Maelstrom took a few more bites of his meal. "Ever think of doing something else? Something that doesn't involve pointing guns at people?"
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2014 21:39:15 GMT -6
Iskra nodded, no stranger to getting hurt on the job. Her own shoulder was still weakened from a surprise attack by one of the albinos from a few weeks ago. A malfunction in the proximity alarm had left her vulnerable, and the native got lucky.
“Your secret is safe with me.” She responded professionally with a reassuring soft smile.
Walking across the room, she slid open a drawer, picking out the right stims for the Salarian’s needs. “I guess I do not have to tell you that you should up your intake of greens and be sure to test limits daily.” She handed him the vials, “We are well stocked here so if you need more please do not hesitate to ask.”
|
|
|
Post by River Havens on Jan 17, 2014 22:50:52 GMT -6
River finished her conversation with Estaban rather quickly. She didn't have many questions to ask and figured if she didn't, he'd be around to answer them. She shook his hand once more before boarding and went off in search of her quarters.
The Valiant was pretty spacious for a Turian frigate. She always imagined them to be incredibly cramped given their compact design on the outside. Yet she imagined it could easily fit about ten-maybe twenty more shipmates. It reminded her of the ship that she spend majority of her childhood on with her father. It was hard not to stop thinking of her dad at this time. She still felt a pang of guilt for leaving him home as troubled as he was but River pushed that aside as best she could.
It was a little disorienting trying to navigate around the ship but River eventually found her way to the mess area where the rest of the crew were conversing amongest themselves. An uncomfortable surge of panic and first-meeting jitters ran through her suddenly. Taking a deep breath, she quietly walked into the mess area to test the waters.
|
|
|
Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Jan 18, 2014 4:19:20 GMT -6
Shala made her way up to the medical bay. She was not injured, but the flying sparks from an overloaded conduit she repaired got her to thinking about what, if any, sort of medical treatment she could count on should she need it.
She reached the medical bay and was somewhat surprised to see the drell in there along with the salarian, as well as the varren.
Looks like drell and batarians have something in common, she thought, remembering the vicious beasts that the slavers had brought with them. They hadn’t taken down any of the asari, but even so they were still very intimidating.
She approached the salarian and said, “Excuse me, Doctor.”
|
|
|
Post by dargene on Jan 18, 2014 11:18:54 GMT -6
As Meldom took the stims he almost bowed a little "Much appreciated, i can see you are busy, will leave now" he says, as he turns he almost bumps into the Quarian.
“Excuse me, Doctor.”
Meldom looked amused "Who me ?, Im not the doctor you are probably looking for" he gestures to Iskra "She is" He smiles at Iskra once more before heading out of the medbay and back down towards the storage lockers.
|
|
|
Post by Eric Lysander on Jan 18, 2014 12:26:58 GMT -6
Eric looked back to his crates and then started up the hoverpallete, steering it inside the ship. Esteban was still occupied with rounding up the rest of the group - were there going to be any more new faces apart from the drell and the young girl?
In the lower decks of the Valiant Eric found room in storage for his boxes, each nearly coming up to his chin when standing on their sides. Stacked lengthwise on top of each other in the corner of the storage room by the shuttle bay, there would be ample room left over for other items, benign or volatile. Bultas Shipping was reknowned for their durable crates and boxes; the company's gifts to Eric for his assistance in "testing" their products on the N7 Skunkworks bombing range were well appreciated. He opened his personal supply store first to remove and unfold a compact hand truck and three small metal bins. He loaded into one bin sufficient food packets including a couple of packs of gum, two changes of clothes and an dog-eared old book before closing up the strong box and sticking it in the corner. Contents necessary for the mission from the parts and ammo box were loaded into another bin. The last metal bin, colored bright yellow, carried his explosive compounds, det cords and grenades all carefully inactive and sorted. Before closing up the final strong box, he looked about him to make sure that no one was looking his way. The other mercenaries were on the upper levels and any techs and engineers to be seen were busy enough with making sure the rest of the ship's integrity met with his employer's standards.
Still peering about periodically, he opened a compartment of the strong box and pulled out the parts of his secret device, clipping them to various places about his armor. When done, his armor still appeared much the same as before. Just a spot or two on his arms and legs were slightly more padded up or bulkier. He hopped a bit in place, making sure none of the pieces came loose. Until they were assembled and armed they were harmless and could even take a fair amount of punishment, further protected by his armor's kinectic barriers. The only real concern was excessive damage to one or more pieces; if any were comprimised the device simply would not work. Eric went to great lengths to ensure this was part of the design. Detonation would not occur without definite care and intent. Eric closed up the last strong box, stacked it underneath the other two and wheeled along his cart to the upper levels. Whether he got to discuss this with Esteban or not, whether he would approve or not, Eric was satisfied that he would be prepared in case the mission needed a "nuclear option."
'About time I got to know everybody else before we set out,' Eric thought to himself while deciding which meal packet he would have, also making a note to check on the drell. The dark-haired youth may have the mindset and training this mission needed, but the drell's reaction earlier had Eric concerned.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2014 17:05:48 GMT -6
"Ever think of doing something else? Something that doesn't involve pointing guns at people?"
The Turian sat there, looking down at his hot tea and sipping it quietly, while he listening to what Maelstrom did before becoming a mercenary. Before responding to him about the N7 Program he has heard so much about by the human soldiers he has met, he decided to answer the man's question first.
"Sometimes I do think about what it would be like to do something else that doesn't involve pointing weapons at people," Arcturus answered after giving it some thought. "Maybe I could've been a scientist, a doctor, or an educator, but I've come from a long line of soldiers who honor duty and value the military life. Maybe I could have told my parents that I wanted to do something different, but I like what I do. I like going out there and helping good people who need it and my skills. Especially now where I can pretty much make my own rules instead of being held back by the Turian military, but that doesn't mean I don't follow any codes. I wouldn't kill a bad guy unless they bring me no other choice, for instance." He sighed, pausing for a moment to finish his tea.
"There were a few times where I was able to use words to defuse a situation that would've ended badly, instead of using my gun. I could've chose to draw my weapon and fire it at some poor kid who was having a bad day, and needed someone to talk to, but I didn't. The kid and his hostages are alive today because I decided on a risky choice..." His eyes gazed toward the corner of the table, but stared at nothing in particular as he thought about that day, as well as other days. "That's the thing about choices in our business...all of it is risky, but like everyone else, we have to live with the consequences of them."
"Hmm," He chuckled lightly, and said when he looked back at him, "Maybe when I retire, I'll write a book about my adventures." While adding, "As for you for not going into the N7 Program that I have heard so much about...I think it's still an honor that you were recommended by your commanding officer. Your decision not to, must have been more important, I imagine."
|
|
|
Post by Maelstrom on Jan 18, 2014 17:39:34 GMT -6
"Your decision not to, must have been more important, I imagine," Arcturus said.
Maelstrom laughed without meaning too. Realizing his slip, he explained, "It wasn't exactly a choice I made. That's into touchy territory, though."
After taking another sip of tea, he said, "The military wasn't tradition for me. It was a choice. I want to see the galaxy and help the people in it. Every now and then, though, I considered doing something quieter. Maybe farming on one of the frontier worlds. Helping build a community from the ground up. Space just called a little louder."
Maelstrom turned and saw the young woman standing there. Emily had given him a brief description of her physical appearance, but her conversation with Bridges had been drowned out by background noise the cameras were not able to filter. Somehow, he imagined her looking older than she did, maybe more scars or obvious signs of wear. Not the attractive young woman before him. For a moment, he wondered how skilled she could possibly be, before reminding himself of all the harmless-seeming people he had met in his travels.
He rose to his feet and extended a hand. "Feel free to join us. I'm Maelstrom. Pleasure to meet you, Miss...?"
|
|
|
Post by Eric Lysander on Jan 18, 2014 19:56:23 GMT -6
A couple of techs were seen entering the engine room as Eric started up the stairway, pulling his hand truck up behind one step at a time.
"Another full diagnostic? Thought they said everything checked out," one grumbled, arming his omnitool.
"If a quarian spots a problem, you can bet there'll be several more," remarked her partner, wheeling her own hand truck with assorted components behind her. Eric smiled. The quarian mercenary wasted no time. Maybe he could ask for her assistance in going over the ship's sensors and scanners including targeting systems if she hadn't already given her critique on them. On the way to the main level the salarian mercenary moved past Eric quickly, excusing himself before the ex-Alliance marine could get a chance to speak.
'...okay, then...,' he wondered what his hurry was.
Back on the main level again, Eric took in the view of the command station taking up the center of the bridge, at the base of the neck of the Valiant. Turian commanders preferred to lead from the rear while human officers literally liked being the center of attention, surrounded by their subordinates.
'Arrow versus circle; no wonder the turians nearly popped our balloon,' he mused to himself.
He passed by the open door to the medical bay, peeking inside. The quarian and the drell were discussing something he couldn't make out. He set his hand truck to one side of the entrance and rested his back against an edge to observe. The drell looked calmer but still a bit anxious. The quarian had her back to him. Her gestures were measured and direct, sharpened by a life aboard crowded ships where a careless misstep could endanger the entire crew. Eric reminded himself to keep his manner subdued when they looked his way. Hopefully he would have better luck at a conversation with one of them, seeing how he had to make amends for distracting one from going for her weapon at Chora's Den and nearly giving the other a coronary.
The drell was the first to notice him at the door. Eric held up a hand close to his chest.
"Hi," he said in a gentle, even tone "Sorry if I scared you earlier..."
|
|
|
Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Jan 18, 2014 20:39:17 GMT -6
A look crossed the salarian’s face, another she did not recognize due to her limited experience with other races. “Who me? I’m not the doctor you are probably looking for, she is,” he said, pointing at the drell and then leaving.
“Oh!” she said, turning to the drell. “I’m sorry. I’ve heard so much about how smart salarians are, I just thought…” she trailed off into embarrassed silence.
Before the drell could respond, Shala saw her look over her shoulder.
"Hi, sorry if I scared you earlier," she heard someone say behind her, and turned to face one of the other humans.
She didn’t know his name, but he wasn’t the one called Maelstrom. She hadn’t met him before, so she assumed he was talking to the drell.
This annoyed her. She had already been talking to the doctor, couldn't he wait? Unless...
"Are you in need of medical attention?" she asked.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2014 1:10:54 GMT -6
Iskra smiled at Meldom once more as he gave her a little bow and thanks, she’d have to remember to ask him to return when Esteban gave her the synthesizing data for the Seekers. Having a chemist would speed the process greatly, she had found with many Salarians, they knew how to think, and work, fast.
“Excuse me, Doctor.”
The Drell looked up from the datapads she had just finished straightening as she thought. The Quarian was addressing Meldom, which caused Iskra pause, but waved it away as racial stereotyping. Grabbing the datapad with information on humans, she looked back up to find herself alone with the Quarian.
“Oh!” The Quarian exclaimed, her stance becoming awkward as if she didn’t know what to do. “I’m sorry. I’ve heard so much about how smart Salarians are, I just thought…”
Iskra opened her mouth to reply that it was a common mistake when the door opened and the human with all the strange boxes from earlier walked in and put his hand to his chest. She briefly wondered what the motion meant before he spoke, “Hi. Sorry if I scared you earlier.”
The Quarian’s shoulders tensed to the surprise of the young doctor, "Are you in need of medical attention?" Iskra had to blink a few times after the woman’s question, unsure of there was genuine concern in the voice.
|
|
|
Post by Esteban Bridges on Jan 19, 2014 4:30:14 GMT -6
Esteban waited patiently, leaning against the wall near the open hatch with his arms crossed across his chest. He stayed there until the last crew member boarded the Valiant, scrolling through messages on his omnitool. Nothing really caught his full attention, responding to many of the unimportant ones with pre-scripted answers. Fortunately for him, it only took a few minutes before everyone who was on the mission was aboard.
He kicked off the wall and marched right over to the command station. His armored fingers drifted over the holographic panel, not stopping until touching the comm channel. He hit it once, opening up the channel to the cockpit.
"Begin final check for departure," Esteban said briefly, killing the channel before any response could come. He had more important things to do than listen to one of his employees. He tapped the button again, now opening up the comm channel throughout the ship.
"The Valiant takes off in five minutes," he said, once again briefly. And just like the last time, he turned off the channel once he finished speaking. This time, it wasn't due to him being rude. There was one more thing he needed to do. Esteban held up his forearm so he would have better access to his omnitool and pulled up his messages again. Quickly scrolling through the many screens, he was able to pull up the 'New Message' option and typed in Iskra Narei's name into the recipient spot. He then attached the file he received from Udina. All he typed in the for the message was: "As promised" before he hit send.
|
|
|
Post by Game Master on Jan 19, 2014 4:47:40 GMT -6
[GM Note: The Valiant will be taking off soon. Thanks to inertial dampeners, there's no need to strap anything or anyone in. I figure the rest of the chapter will be conversations... getting to know each other... pushing forward our own unique subplots to further expand / advance the story]
To anyone checking the Citadel News Channel, there is a new story, audio only, by Emily Wong....
This is Emily Wong with the Alliance News Network. Fifty seven of the sixty eight known Alliance station within the Sol System suffered simultaneous power failures on all primary and secondary systems yesterday. The Alliance has not released an official statement yet, but unnamed sources within Alliance High Command suspect this was an attack. As of yet, no government or organization claimed responsibility for this incident. We will report more as information becomes available. For the Alliance News Network, this is Emily Wong.
|
|
|
Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Jan 19, 2014 5:40:48 GMT -6
Before the human could respond, the captain's voice rang out through the intercom, "The Valiant takes off in five minutes."
"Keelah!" Shala exclaimed, and raced down to the engine room.
*******************************************************************************
When she reached the engine room, she found the dark-skinned human at the main console. "Report," she said in a manner not unlike that of her mother.
The human looked up and said, "My people found a few more minor problems and fixed them, boosting engine efficiency by 5%. Everything is looking good."
Shala brought her display, and it confirmed what the human said, but if there was one thing her people knew, it was that one couldn't put complete faith in machines; they had spent three hundred years learning that lesson. She closed her eyes and shut out everything but the ship's beating heart, listening for the faintest sign of distress.
After a few moments, she opened her eyes and pressed a button to put her in touch with the bridge. "This is Engineering, all power systems are ready for launch," she said.
"Acknowledged, bridge out," came the terse reply.
Shala looked over at the human. "Your people do good work," she said. "I'm sorry, but in all my running around, I never got your name. What is it?"
"Adams, Adele Adams," the human said.
"Adele Adams vas Valiant, pleased to meet you," Shala said.
Adams said, "Likewise, Shala'Bekk vas Neema."
Shala smiled, feeling calm for the first time since leaving the Fleet.
|
|
|
Post by dargene on Jan 19, 2014 10:10:27 GMT -6
Meldom was leaning on the door of the storage compartment of his checking things on his omni tool "Secure network..safe distance" he continued to mutter to himself, tapping things sending emails out and checking news he thought how handy these omnitools where and how without them it would be significantly harder to communicate, in the middle of his thought his omnitool flashed red and started beeping Meldom sighed "That time again ?", He opened his satchel and dug through it till he found a syringe and a blue vial, he filled the syringe with blue liquid and stabbed it in his arm drawing blood into the needle before giving himself the blue liquid he then shivered "Never get use to this.." he sighs, placing the syringe back he notices he has no more vials of the blue liquid "Damn it!" he says exasperatedly "Will need to make more.. rejection not viable.." he mutters looking at his arms. "The Valiant takes off in five minutes."
"Good" He says to himself before resuming his position against the wall of the storage compartments tapping his omnitool and watching streams of data flow.
|
|
|
Post by grandest on Jan 19, 2014 10:45:00 GMT -6
Cruendi'has was thankful to be rid of C-Sec and now onboard the ship as a countdown began for launch. A week on the citadel was far too long in his book. Even from childhood, he preferred the wildness of adventure. He brought his hoverpallette of supplies into the ship's storage are and secured it. He noticed the other human merc making his way upstairs, saying something about meeting the others. Cruendi'has had found his conversations with other species lacking since his withdraw from the Hegemony. He had quickly learned that, especially in humans, other races did not particularly enjoy being talked down to. There was no time like the present, he thought to himself, to change bad habits. He nodded to himself and walked after the human. Moving upstairs, the Salarian from the meeting brushed past Cruendi'has quickly. He attempted to introduce himself, but the bug-eyed alien seemed swept up in his own thoughts. "Typical," Cruendi'has remarked to himself. On the second floor, he found the Turian and one of the human mercenaries sharing tea. He also took note of the human woman standing awkwardly aside from the table. He, himself, would never understand this distinctly human lack of boldness. Thy expected the universe to revolve around them and, yet, so many did so little to deserve it. To his kind, a sign of weakness or ineptitude was as sure an agent of death as a Thresher Maw appearing under your feet. To these humans, though, it seemed to bring out compassion and mercy. "Feel free to join us." The human in all black armor offered to the girl. "I'm Maelstrom. Pleasure to meet you, Miss...?" She gave no quick response, so Cruendi'has moved. "Hello, Maelstrom," he blurted out. "I'm Criendi'has." Turning to the Turian, he added, "and you are?"
|
|
|
Post by Eric Lysander on Jan 19, 2014 12:36:24 GMT -6
"The Valiant takes off in five minutes." came the announcement over the loudspeakers.
The quarian raced past Eric and headed down the stairwell to the lower level, leaving him alone with the quiet drell. So much for speaking with the two of them. Eric cursed to himself and looked to the deck floor.
"... I'm okay... just wanted to see how you were doin' is all ..."
Figuring his presence would only set off another panic attack, Eric left with his hand truck and proceeded to the upper level. Finding an unused locker he stocked it with his items from the bins, folding them up and placing them inside once they were empty. He pocketed his packs of gum and pulled out a random food packet before setting the yellow bin inside, still full of his explosives, and sealing it up. He strolled over to the commisary amd placed his packet inside the microwave to warm up. At this point he did not care what it was he would be eating; it was not shaping up to be one of his better days socially. Still no response to his vidmails from Shepard, more of the usual brushoffs from the ladies and then a complete stranger attacks him. If only every problem in the universe could be solved with the proper application of C12.
The microwave beeped completion of its reheat program. Eric removed the packet and set it on a plate, grabbed a fork and walked over by the table where the human in black armor and the turian were seated, engaged in conversation. Standing by them were the dark-haired girl and the batarian. Eric snorted reflexively, recalling his earlier tussel with one of his kind. He made sure to keep his distance from the girl as he remained standing and picked away at his plate.
|
|
|
Post by River Havens on Jan 19, 2014 18:28:57 GMT -6
Giving the mess hall a quick once over, River decided it was time to stop lingering in the shadows and just dive right in. Her best bet was to just mingle in like everyone else and eat something. She put her equipment aside for the moment and went over the kitchen area to check out what they had in stock. The kitchen itself wasn't that bad of a set up. Standard like that found on an Alliance ship but strangely had the feel of home. The stockpile of rations were pretty impressive. By the looks of it, there was enough to keep everyone fed for at least a year. River had never been a been a big eater, but it was good to know that she wasn't going to starve while on this mission.
She chose a packet of microwavable mac & cheese hiding in the back, heated it and walked over to the table where a man and turian were in heavy conversation. Another man was standing by himself, picking at his food and didn't look to be in much of mood to converse. There was also a batarian on board. Corwin had warned her to steer clear of their kind growing up. He didn't look to be all that friendly and up for conversation either.
"Well...you have to start somewhere," she muttered to herself. Picking the stand-alone soldier, she walked up to him and gave a friendly greeting." Um...hi. I'm River. River Havens."
|
|