Mass Effect, Shepard's Absence IC

[Samfool]

The attack on the Citadel was devastating, but luckily the Council was saved. The Turian-Human conflict all but subsided and the Humans were even given a Council seat for their efforts. The Volus, Batarians, and Vorcha are appalled, for they were never particularly big 'fans' of humans in the first place. This just made these races hate the Council even more.

Commander Shepard, savior of the Citadel, hunter of Saren, was searching for the Geth in remote areas of space last time anyone heard. He is a living legend to some, and an antichrist-like figure to a few others. This man has been inspiring to all races.

Please only read your information and respond accordingly:

Evariki Vanulius

Earning her reputation through her brutality and bloodthirstiness, Eva is considered a quality gun for hire. She is about to meet a contact in a private room below Afterlife. In the room, there are two Turians, both clad in armor from head to toe. They wear almost identical looking armor, save the cracks and dings. The only other being in the room is an Asari with surprisingly thick armor. She is as beautiful as Asari normally are, but something seems a little more.. devious. You are the most recent one to walk into the room.


Marcus Dand the Human Vanguard

Omega is a crap hole, but at least it has some jobs. Marcus has not had a job in a while and has had to pull some unsavory petty thefts recently. Latest meal was provided by a drunk Turian with a loose grip on his pistol. It was not worth much, but it was enough. After a lot of searching, you came across a Turian with a nasty scar across his right eye socket. He seems to have a cybernetic in there as a replacement. He told you to meet up with a contact in a private room in Afterlife to sign up. Apparently you are just shipping some eezo off planet. It pays the bills and you technically are not doing anything illegal as long as you pretend you dont know what you are shipping.


Garrett Temple the Human Sentinel

Your superiors are sending you to that piss hole Omega.
"A little out of the jurisdiction, I know, but I guess there is a big shipment coming in of illegal eezo, and we need you there." Your superior said to you right before you left, "I am sure you can handle it though, you are a big boy." You were supposed to be on vacation, but I guess going into non-Citadel space will have to do in the eyes of C-Sec. They have been taking more than advantage of you recently. You are supposed to meet some Turian named Ajako in a private room in Afterlife. You are supposed to put a tracker on the product and leave, that is it.


Lucas Raine the Human Engineer

After being overlooked by the Alliance for so long, someone finally sees that you are still worth your weight as an engineer. You are told to meet some C-Sec officer you are going to be accompanying and protecting. All you need to do is keep your mouth shut and follow the officer's orders. You are told that you are to act as a freelance merc from citadel space, so no one should know your name. Its better than nothing, but still, you wish you could do more with your time.


Ferix Varid the Turian Engineer and Stalker the Geth Tech Soldier

Going on another mission with Stalker, Ferix had to disguise him again. It was not easy having his modified Geth friend accompanying him everywhere, but hey, he is a good fighter. The synthetic body of Stalker was large, but fit snugly in his compartment. Ferix woke him with his Omnitool and routed him the information of their new mission. They were to help guard a shipment of eezo off Omega. Not exactly legal, but hey, it pays the bills.


Ekhis the Asari Soldier

Ekhis begrudgingly signed up on this freelance mission to help ship some cargo off Omega. The only reason she is even sitting in the private room in Afterlife waiting for that no-good Turian Ajako is because she knows that there is going to be an ambush. She is actually being paid to be the 'inside woman' on this mission, but no one knows it. A tiny little human girl walks into the room, she has blue eyes and brown hair in a boyish haircut. There is something sinister in her eyes, something untamed. She might actually enjoy this merc.


Toleon the Salarian Infiltrator

Being 'independent' to the Turian's military means sometimes they simply dont need you. This mission you are about to undertake is a result of one of those times. It is a simple cargo-run mission. It may be a bit shady, but the pay is decent, and you most likely will not see much combat hiding in the back while cloaked. It is thoughts like that that make you wonder why people even bother with fighting up front like the Turians do. Ah well, less bullets in your armor and more blood in your body! The contact is supposed to be in Afterlife on Omega. They got a little private room and everything! Hopefully this goes off without a hitch.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Garrett waits in the line until reaching the elcor bouncer.

"I'm looking for a guy named Ajako. He's expecting me," he says with a smile.

I have no freakin' clue what I'm doing out here. Aren't SPECTREs the ones who handle missions outside Council space?

[Ekul]

Toleon stepped into the docks. He'd only been to Omega twice before, and it had taught him to keep his omnitool at the ready. His quasi-turian armor set him apart from the most of the Salarians on Omega, whether the Eclipse mercs, led by the infamous Jaroth or the Blue Sons.
He checked his omni-tool.
"Am I too early? That's probably a good thing. Don't want to make things tense."
There was a line leading into Afterlife. He sighed.
"Oh. Well, I'll be lucky to be on time now."
He moved to the back of the line, glancing at his omni tool and checking his motion tracker.

[Liffguard]

Lucas wandered through the crowd toward the C-sec office to meet his contact. He had a mild limp, for those who cared to look. As he walked he casually played with his omni-tool, one minute adjusting his barrier settings, the next flipping through a music channel. Every now and again his right hand dropped to his hip to pat his pistol reassuringly. The message and the job were both probably on the up-and-up but you could never be sure. He'd had a fair bit of contact with some of the Citadel's less than savoury elements and he still wasn't entirely convinced that C-sec didn't want him for questions. It wasn't as if the pistol would do him any good, but he felt more comfortable having it. Reaching the office, he braced himself up and stepped inside...

[Samfool]

Garrett and Lucas

You two have now already met and went to Omega on the same transports, Garrett is the C-Sec officer that Lucas was sent to meet. Garrett was not told about the freelancer accompanying him until Lucas showed him his superior's instructions. You two are told to ignore each other for the most part, but Lucas is there to protect Garrett just in case anything goes wrong.


Both Garrett and Lucas walk in within thirty seconds of each other. Garrett's question is followed by a grunt from a pair of Turians in identical armor.

"He is not here yet" Garrett hears on his translator, "Sit tight and wait a while."

One of them motion to the seat across the room nearer to a gruff looking Asari in thick, scuffed looking armor. There is also a young human woman standing near the entrance, it looks like she just got there too.

As for Toleon, the line went a lot quicker than he thought it would once he realized he could simply show that he was meeting someone in a private room. He was now free to roam around.

[Ekul]

Toleon kicked himself for forgetting that- it was easy to become so paranoid that you lose sight of certain privileges.

He walked towards the contact's supposed location.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"Hi there!" Garrett says cheerfully to the asari and the girl.

[HoodyC17]

Eva wanders nearer to the center of the room. She examines her surroundings and wonders when introductions will be finished. Although she looked professional she was actually itching to kill something.

[Knight13]

Ferix enters some commands on his omnitool, downloading the mission details to the geth.

"Wake up, Stalker. We've got another job."

He tilts his head back, looking up at the massive geth.

"I've told you before, you should really let me modify your chassis. A lot of people still don't like geth and it's hard to disguise you."

[Liffguard]

Lucas leaned on the bar, carefully watching Garrett's conversation out of the corner of his eye. He had his omni-tool set up to discretely listen in as well, but so far that hadn't been necessary. He waved to the barkeep and flashed a grin.
"Hey, drink please! Something mellow."
Nursing his drink he relaxed back into watching Garrett.

[Athaniar]

Ekhis carefully examines those around her before acting. Most interesting is this woman. She has the look of a biotic (which always makes Ekhis somewhat suspicious), but more importantly she looks like a fierce warrior. That is always something she enjoys. There is also an overly cheerful human. Might be biotic, certainly a government guy. She looks at him briefly and waves acknowledging at him, but her real focus is at the woman. This mission might be more interesting than she first thought.

[HoodyC17]

Eva turns to face Garret but she spoke as if she was directing it to everyone in the room.

Eva: It would be best if we introduce ourselves when everybody is here or else we'll be causing some annoying complications.

[Samfool]

The tallest of the Turian pair steps forward and motions toward his partner

"This is Lorik, and I am Kuril. We are just a couple of mercs looking for a job, and I can almost guarantee that everyone here will have similar stories." He says toward the female human in an almost sarcastic tone.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Might be biotic, certainly a government guy.
Gonna call horse pucky on this one. How would she be able to tell he's a government guy just by looking at him? Criminals can be cheerful too.

Eva turns to face Garret but she spoke as if she was directing it to everyone in the room.

Eva: It would be best if we introduce ourselves when everybody is here or else we'll be causing some annoying complications.

The tallest of the Turian pair steps forward and motions toward his partner

"This is Lorik, and I am Kuril. We are just a couple of mercs looking for a job, and I can almost guarantee that everyone here will have similar stories." He says toward the female human in an almost sarcastic tone.
"Garrett. Garret Temple. Ex-C-Sec customs agent, now a smuggler using all the tricks he learned on the force to keep C-Sec confused."

He grins.

[Ekul]

Toleon approaches the doorway and enters.

"This the room?" he asks, surveying the other occupants.

[Samfool]

Gonna call horse pucky on this one. How would she be able to tell he's a government guy just by looking at him? Criminals can be cheerful too.

Name a cheery criminal ;D


The guard looks at Toleon with a grimace and then goes back to staring at a particular Asari entertainer.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Behold! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AffablyEvil) Asari aren't telepathic, so what reason does she have to think Garrett's a lawman? Plus if that's true, then why send Garrett at all if any asari hired would be capable of blowing his cover so easily?

[Ekul]

Toleon sits down by the bar, near the edge. He glances at the two turians first, then to Garrett, then to Eva, Ekhis, then finally to Lucas.
"I assume we're all here for the cargo run?"

[Athaniar]

((Sorry, I was mistaken, didn't realize he was undercover. I blame tiredness))

Ekhis looks with suspicion at those present.
"That does seem to be the case. I'm Ekhis, by the way."

[Ekul]

((Sorry, I was mistaken, didn't realize he was undercover. I blame tiredness))

Ekhis looks with suspicion at those present.
"That does seem to be the case. I'm Ekhis, by the way."

"I'm Toleon. I must say, it's refreshing to see Asari who doesn't bother with 'allure'. Not that I have much experience with Asari."

[Archpaladin Zousha]

((Sorry, I was mistaken, didn't realize he was undercover. I blame tiredness))
Tiredness is forgiveable. Thank you.

[Samfool]

The second Turian who has been keeping all but silent finally speaks,
"Ex-C-Sec eh? What made you leave?"

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"The lack of a decent paycheck. With all the money going to reconstruction after the geth attack, C-Sec officers took the hit in their wallets. So I quit and came out to the Terminus. More profit opportunities out here for my unique services."

[Athaniar]

Ekhis grins at the salarian.
"Allure can wait. I prefer to get the job done first."

[HoodyC17]

The part which she disliked the most has just began. Socialising with strangers was always a weakness to her but she did not show it. She supposes the best word to describe her now is "shy."

Evariki: My name's Eva and by the sounds of it, it looks like I'm the only one here who doesn't know what our job is.

[Samfool]

"Ajako did that to you?" Asked one Turian, he chuckled and continued, "Don't you worry your pretty little head human, he will explain everything once he gets here."

[Ekul]

Toleon returned the grin.
"A toast to practicality- well, I guess I'd need a drink first."
He took a glance at the bar and then turned back.
"It's bad form to drink before a mission."
At that he looked between Eva and the turian.
"Don't have many details either. I'm mainly doing this between reliable paychecks."

[KingOfLaughter]

Sorry didn't even notice that.

Stalker stirs, talking in his monotone robotic voice, "Yes, yes. As the humans say let's make like a tree, whatever that means..." Stalker grabs his machine gun and prepares to get going.

[Samfool]

Stalker and Ferix

You both walk up to the private room you were told to go to with everyone staring at the gillie suited behemoth traveling through Afterlife. Nothing like freaking out criminals and mercs by simply walking about like normal!


You are all stopped as you see a Turian walk in followed by a massive creature behind him. This beast is covered in a gillie-suit and wields an assault rifle the size of said Turian's torso. The pair of armor-clad Turians jumped back in surprise as the being stooped into the room.
"What on Palaven is that thing?"

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Garrett scans the gillie-suit-clad...person with his omni-tool.

[HoodyC17]

Eva was slightly shocked by the being which was twice her height entering the room.

Evariki: I'm guessing it's a synthetic or mech which was custom built for "heavy lifting" or to act as a bodyguard. Am I correct?

[KingOfLaughter]

Stalker 'sighs' "Great more softies, no offence intended Ferix. I'm not custom, I'm not here for heavy lifting, stop scanning me before I shoot you, please." Stalker lets out robotic laugh.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Garrett lowers the omni-tool

"Must have gotten yourself blown up and needed extensive synthetic replacements. Synthetics don't laugh."

[HoodyC17]

Eva only saw the way the towering being acted as a programmed response.

Eva: Not custom built? You're obviously not mass produced... Or at least not mass produced around here... Anyway, "heavy lifting" was meant to act as an euphemism for the more dangerous acts something of your size may be able to do.

[KingOfLaughter]

Stalkers finger moves off the trigger, Thank you, repairs is one way to put it. In that case, you could say I do 'heavy lifting'.

The heavy lifting was an IRL messup. my bad.

[Ekul]

As the others react to the 11 foot tall man, Toleon eyes the faint red glow near the head, but doesn't say anything yet. As the tension cools a bit, he speaks up.
"Ghillie suit, eh? Never underestimate the usefulness of a topiary disguise, even when 3.5 meters tall. Not sure how useful it will be on Omega. A bundle of 'discarded' rags may be a better bet. Usually ends up looking a bit silly though."

[KingOfLaughter]

It puts the mercs in-line, something about scary giant living bushes, I don't understand squishies."

[HoodyC17]

The way the synthetic spoke was bothering Eva. Although it was a 11 feet tall entity without a soul to her she actually found it easier to speak with it than anyone else in the room.

Evariki: Squishies? Did Ferix program you to call people squishies as a joke? Because I'm not finding it funny.

[Knight13]

Ferix waves his hands in a vaguely apologetic manner.

"Don't mind my partner here. Let's just say that Stalker enjoys being the way he is. Anyway, I believe we're here to do a job."

[KingOfLaughter]

Stalker 'laugh's, "No squishies is my own. But yeah, we have a job to do, what's what?"

[Samfool]

"What is this.. thing doing in my way?" An angry voice cried from beyond the synthetic. Both of the Turians took in a big sigh as the 'scary bush' was pushed, more or less, to the side of the doorway.

A decently armored Turian (http://images.wikia.com/masseffect/images/c/c9/Turian_General_Desolus.jpg) walked in carrying a datapad in one hand. He started running through a list of names, to see who was all there. A few times he paused, waiting for an unknown freelancer to respond before continuing on, shaking his head. Everyone in the room could tell that this man has seen some action, both in combat and with 'dirty freelancers' as he affectionately called you all. He was accompanied by two Batarians, one in a dark blue set of armor with the helmet securely on, and the other with black camo and a scowl on his face. They never said a word throughout the whole process.

"Alright you freelancers, my name is Ajako." The Turian sneered in disgust. He motioned toward his datapad which had a picture of a cargo crate as he spoke, "This is the package, you are only to be concerned with the package. If one of you fall while delivering said package, the others are being ordered to leave you. We will not tell you where we are going, and will not tell you what is in it, so do not bother asking. We will head to the shuttle right after this little meeting so we can get this over with."

The ornery looking man took a deep breath and looked at his omnitool and cursed in his native tongue, "I would ask if there are questions, but as I see none of you are either Krogan or Vorcha, I think you can understand the terms fairly well. Except for you, I am not even sure what you are Mr.. Stalker?"

He looks at his datapad again and calls out for Ferix, "I want you to keep your little pet in line. If this causes any problems, I will shoot you personally." He stared deep into Ferix's eyes when he said this. Turning to the rest of the band of mercs he nodded and turned.

"Lets go people! We are wasting time standing around when there are credits to be made." Ajako grinned, "Follow me to the shuttles."

[KingOfLaughter]

Stalker chuckles at the mans threat, "If anyone is going to get in the way it will be your squishy mercenaries, not me." Stalker then heaves his rifle over his shoulder, "No offence to any of you."

[Samfool]

Ajako looks over his shoulder at the hulking thing and then gives Ferix a dastardly look, "Programming it to be a smart-arse eh? You damed mercs are all the same."

[HoodyC17]

Though Ajako was rude he had the kind of taking the lead and getting the things done efficiently attitude Eva liked. She followed, hoping that they had covered the social part of the job.

[Knight13]

Ferix shrugs as he follows along behind Ajako.

"It's more interesting than him going 'Affirmative' all the time and reciting status reports every few seconds."



[OOC: How does a Turian grin? They don't have lips.]

[KingOfLaughter]

Stalker again 'chuckles' at Ajakos words, then waits for Ferix before following along.

[Ekul]

At this prompting, Toleon stood up and joined the formation that Ajako had demanded. He was used to being either cloaked ahead of the group, or in the back, so he lingered a short distance behind

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"Mister Ajako!" Garrett pipes up.

"Pardon my interruption, but I think it might be best if we place this on the package."

He takes out the tracking device.

"This here's my own personal invention, specially made to fool Citadel-space scanners. Slap this on the sucker and no one'll be able to figure out what's in it, meaning customs won't be a hassle."

[Samfool]

*The equivalent to a Turian grin


"You think we haven't already thought of that?" Ajako said, looking at his omnitool for the time them cursing again. He turns and jabs a finger into Garrett's chest as he continues with, "Listen up rookie, you are not getting paid to think, you are getting paid to shoot whomever I tell you to. Now pick up the pace."

One of the two Turians walk up to Garrett from behind and whisper "Don't worry, he is like that to everyone. I think you may have gotten a new nickname though. Usually when he says 'rookie', it sticks."

Both of them laugh as the fall back. Ajako looks over his shoulder, scoffs, and begins walking faster.

[KingOfLaughter]

Stalker mearly follows along but then walks up beside Ajako, "So, what kind of soft squishy things do you expect us to run into? You know, numbers, species, armaments, that kind of thing."

[Samfool]

"Ferix! Get this thing off my back! I dont need this right now." Ajako yells without looking behind him. The stress is really starting to show.

One of the Turian pair turns and says "Oh, looks like you got a nickname too, Thing." They both start laughing again.

[KingOfLaughter]

Stalker stops walking and when the two Turians pass starts walking directly behind them, "My name is Stalker for a reason" and as suddenly as he stopped he simply, disappears.

[Ekul]

"Not to belabor the point, but your package's safety will depend on our ability to pick the foe out of the crowd and pick him off quietly before he becomes a problem." Toleon says, as he glances in both directions. He refrained from stating his larger concern-'And our safety as well.'- as it would likely be met with apathy or worse.

[Xondoure]

Marcus had remained quiet, almost invisible throughout the proceedings having slipped in when no one was paying much attention. It looked like a strange group, but a paycheck was a paycheck and cut off from his funds as he was here on Omega he would need it soon.

[Knight13]

Ferix turns back to where Stalker was standing a second ago.

"Stalker, tone it down a little. And save your cloaking field for if we have to fight somebody."

[Liffguard]

Lucas watched the conversation unfold with a growing sense of unease. He'd never seen a personal mech that size before and the VI interface had obviously been programmed with some...interesting personality quirks. Nevertheless, like Mr. Ajako had pointed out, he wasn't being paid to think. He quaffs his drink down in one go and orders another before activating his omni-tool. After a moment's hesitation, he switches it off again.

[Athaniar]

Ekhis followed the others, as usual not saying more than necessary. A strange group, this was, but that was only normal on Omega. The big mech was the most out-of-place of the party. It had an odd personality, that's for sure. Maybe even a bit more than a VI should... Meh. VI or AI or whatever it was, it did not matter, and she did not care all that much, and if it came to that her disruptor weaponry did not discriminate. She also noted that the other humanoids there were getting a bit nervous, especially that arrogant Ajako. To tell the truth she wasn't all that calm herself, but she had been in this business long enough to learn when to be patient, even though she did not like it much. Patience is a virtue, some said. She had never been particularly virtuous.

[Samfool]

Ajako takes you all to the shuttle dock where one of the Batarians hoped into a large looking transport. It had two rows of seats which were aligned back to back in the center of the transport facing out, and long butterfly doors that raised about parallel to the top of the ship. The grumpy Turian instructed all of you to jump on and strap in.

You guys remember the awkward elevator rides? Yup, well this is like that. I will leave some time for you all to get to know each other a little more.

[HoodyC17]

Eva followed Ajako's insturctions and prepared herself for a long flight. One which would most likely result with the other mercs scoialising with each other.

[Ekul]

"Well, might as well talk about our proficiencies." Toleon said, and then pointed to himself "Cloak, Incinerate and deploy drone."

[Liffguard]

Lucas shrugs.
"Not much to say. I've got a few tricks for dealing with kinetic barriers. Overheating weapons, stuff like that. I mostly just fix things, install upgrades, write new ammo block shear programs. I got a good one for punching holes in armour."
He reaches into a pouch and pulls out a small spherical object. He grins as he holds it up.
"Oh! And I got a few of these bad boys. You don't want to look straight at 'em when they go off. Washes out optics on all standard frequencies and a 200 decibel shockwave within 5 metres." He leans back with a smug grin, obviously pleased with himself.
"Let me tell you, they do not come cheap. Tried building a few myself once. Ended up walking round half-blind and deaf for a month." He chuckles to himself before lapsing into silence.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"Standard Alliance biotics program. Sentinel branch. I'm good at peeling apart someone's defenses, whether biotic or tech-based, and I'm a crack shot with small-arms."

He silently curses to himself when Ajako chews him out. He'd need another excuse to get close to the package so he could plant the tracking device.

[Knight13]

Ferix fiddles with his omnitool.

"I have some tech skills....actually I have a lot of tech skills, but you probably only want to know about the relevant ones. I can overload shields, burn things, hack locks and I have a combat drone. I'm also pretty handy with this pistol." Ferix pats the pistol at his waist.

He gestures to Stalker.

"As I'm sure you've already noticed, Stalker here is very large, has an equally large gun and a cloaking field. Heh, I remember one time I was offloading some cargo and some salarian mercs tried to ambush me. All of a sudden one of them got punted halfway across the cargo bay by something that wasn't there, scared the crap out of the rest of them."

[Liffguard]

Lucas half raises a hand and turns to Ferix.
"You don't mind my askin'...that's an interesting mech you got. Haven't seen that model before. Custom chasis? Must've cost a pretty packet."

[Knight13]

Ferix eyes Lucas.

"I salvaged most of him, actually. He's got some YMIR mech parts in there, too. It was some work putting him together, but it didn't actually cost all that much."

All technically true, Ferix did salvage him and most of the additional electronics he put in Stalker were indeed from a destroyed YMIR mech.

[Samfool]

The one who was introduced to you all as Lorik spoke once more, "Me and Kuril here have been on a couple missions of Ajako's. We are pretty much lock n' stock soldiers, the only real difference between us is that I use diruptor ammo and he uses shredder."

Kuril nods in agreement and adds, "Nothing really gets in our way with that cross-fire."

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"Potent combo."

[Xondoure]

"Vanguard. I'm best when I can get close to the enemies."

[KingOfLaughter]

"Ferix did an adequate observational report of my functions, however he missed that not only is this a 'large gun' it's modified to fire concussive slugs at my target, and I myself am able to hack into AI, of various kinds. The stealth module is simply that. I am also capable of bearing, safely, up to 1500lbs."

[HoodyC17]

Eva points to her head.

Eva: Biotic specialist. But don't expect me to warp anything as you can only go so far with shady black market deals and I wasn't the one who bought it so it does worry me somewhat. I specialise more in throwing people around than anything else.

[Athaniar]

Ekhis smiled, a friendly-ish smile to the others, maybe, but really a smile to herself. The others revealing their strengths just like that. A certain trust was developing between the members of this party. She thought she might as well join in.

"I fight," she stated and made sure her assault rifle, a modified Hahne-Kedar Shadow Works Diamond Back, was visible, "Got disruptor ammo, some nice explosives. No fancy biotics to show off. I'd prefer if you didn't ask any more about that."

[Samfool]

"What the hell?" Lorik asks, surprised, "What kind of Asari doesn't have biotics?"

"I thought eezo exposure was mandatory on Asari worlds." Kuril chimes in after with a slight chuckle in his voice.

[KingOfLaughter]

Stalker starts to ignore the rest of them, walking to the front of the transport, and pointing his M-76 at the window. He simply stands there, watching.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"What the hell?" Lorik asks, surprised, "What kind of Asari doesn't have biotics?"

"I thought eezo exposure was mandatory on Asari worlds." Kuril chimes in after with a slight chuckle in his voice.
"The hell? The lady just told you NOT to ask. Show some respect!"

[Ekul]

Toleon sits silently as the others talk, and then interrupts.

"This may be an advantage, actually. An excess of asari mercenaries use a biotic-combat technique. The element of surprise is always handy- for instance when they find that Ekhis has heavy armor instead of biotic barriers. Stalker and I ought to scout ahead, either Ekhis or Garrett should take point of the cargo guard, and the other should stay at the back. The Lorik and Kuril should stay at either side. Marcus will charge in at the best opportunity, and the rest should take cover and strip protections as best as they can- does this sound agreeable?"

[Samfool]

Ajako turns his head slowly toward the Salarian in awe and said, "I am not used to working with Salarians. You all talk abnormally fast. It does sound like a good plan."

[Xondoure]

Marcus jumped. "I don't remember introducing myself."

[Samfool]

Kuril reminds Marcus that you all went through the list of freelancers and Ajako clearly stated 'Anndd we will be meeting up with Marcus later.'

Good catch! Toleon, I saved your role-playing butt xD

[Ekul]

Marcus jumped. "I don't remember introducing myself."

((OOC: Ah... crap. Sorry, there was a lot of content to sift through- I thought you had


Thanks Samfool))

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Garrett looks a bit uncomfortable.

"Shouldn't someone be staying behind to guard the cargo? We can't just jettison it at the first sign of a Citadel starship."

[Xondoure]

"I see. In that case I see no issue with your plan. Although I hesitate to call 'everyone does what they do best.' brilliant." He says jokingly, trying to ease any tension he had built with the people he would be fighting for his life with.

(OOC: Yeah no problem. Its my bad for not doing it earlier to avoid that sort of confusion.)

[Ekul]

Toleon closed his eyes- and spoke as though he was reciting a passage from a book.
"The more we consider what we already know, the more what we know can help us."

[KingOfLaughter]

Stalker turns, "Survivability rises by 31.489634% if you use strategic use of cover, and fire your weapons in accurate bursts. As well as if you conserve and use powers where they will be of most use." Stalker then returns to his position facing out the window.

[HoodyC17]

Evariki: Though that maybe true, sooner or later we'll be depending on impulse and instinct. Many things may go wrong, forcing you to forget things in the heat of battle.

Eva smiles.

Evariki: And that experience is always pleasureable to me.

She chuckles at the end of her sentence but resumes her composure afterwards.

Evariki: But let us not dig too much into personal stuff, okay?

[Athaniar]

Ekhis frowned, but she wasn't surprised. Telling people to not being soemthing up never helped, in her experience. Nevertheless, she listened carefully to the conversation. Not only was it important to know every part of whatever strategy they would end up using, but further insight into the minds of the others was always an advantage. As long as she didn't start to like any of them that much.

[Liffguard]

Lucas shrugs again. He has a feeling it might end up being a habit with such a group.
"Eh. Frankly, if we have to start shooting at all, something's probably gone tits-up. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for planning for worst-case scenarios, but I'd rather just keep my head down and get things done quietly."
He holds up his pistol in front of him.
"Hell, I doubt I've fired this thing even half a dozen times since basic."

[Samfool]

"We are here." Ajako says in a sour tone. You find yourselves floating toward a small frigate with two guards standing near a row of crates. As the transport ship you are on floats down to the dock, you are told your assignment once more. You all are to line around the package and make sure no boarding parties harm it. As the doors open, you see a fat Volus, even for a Volus, lumber over screaming "Ajako! *breathe* AJAKO!"

The two argue for a while, and apparently you all were about ten minutes late. The Volus also seems to be the owner of whatever ship and cargo is in this bay, making him a very rich man. Next to him were a Turian, a Batarian, and a Human Engineer by the looks of it. "This is the last time I hire freelancers! I am going to hire my own private army, and your arse is FIRED"

Lorik and Kuril begin chuckling and chatting among themselves until Ajako comes back. He points at the pair and directs them to go first, then the Asari and Marcus are to be second. Third in line along the crate will be Eva and Garrett, behind them will be Lucas and Ferix, and lastly will be Toleon and Stalker. You all followed the pair of Turians as they went onto the ship and waited near the large crate in the center of the cargo bay. It was tightly secured and even had a shield protecting it from further jostling and damage. The shield prevented anyone from touching or sticking something on it such as explosives.

The Volus came to inspect you all and make sure he liked the arrangement. The whole time he was cursing each and every one of you for being 'incompetent' and 'useless'. Without a word to any of you he left the room with Ajako and ordered the now furious Turian to guard the door with his two Batarian guards. You all were left alone in the cargo hold, though you know they probably have surveillance cameras along the walls.

Another good chat time!

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Garrett frowns upon seeing the shield. These crooks certainly weren't making it easy for him.

He sidles over to Eva.

"Look's like we're gonna be partners in this venture."

[Xondoure]

Marcus kept quiet, he still didn't like any of this. He got the feeling this wasn't going to be as straightforward as the Turian seemed to expect. "Am I the only one who doesn't trust any of this?" he says out of earshot of the Turian.

[Liffguard]

Lucas sits down and lounges against a crate. He turns to Marcus.
Mate, everyone's got secrets. A guy could drive himself half mad trying to work out every little thing being kept from him. You want my advice? Leave well enough alone. Trouble tends to pop up often enough anyway. Why look for more?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Marcus kept quiet, he still didn't like any of this. He got the feeling this wasn't going to be as straightforward as the Turian seemed to expect. "Am I the only one who doesn't trust any of this?" he says out of earshot of the Turian.
"No. No, you're not."

[KingOfLaughter]

"Technically speaking it's impossible to trust a box, but squishies always tend to trust inanimate objects." After talking Stalker moves onto one of the nearby boxes, climbing as he has to, to get a higher vantage point of the crate. He then sits on the edge of the box he's on with his rifle in his hands.

[Knight13]

Ferix rolls his eyes.

"We're running guard duty for a smuggler, of course I don't trust any of it. That doesn't mean we can't just get the job done and get paid."

He walks over to the crate.

"Is there really just eezo in here? The security measures seem kind of excessive."

[KingOfLaughter]

Stalker 'looks' at Ferix, "Statistically I'd have to doubt it, Ajakos emotions show that this is more then he let on. That or he just got the turian version of a human divorce, your choice which really."

[Ekul]

"Human divorces are strange to Salarians- it's just an expired contract."
Toleon glances around and keeps his voice low.
"Would mainly have reservations if it were a biological weapon or something."

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Garrett appears to get nervous as the others begin speculating about the contents of the crate. He fiddles the tracking device in his hand, wondering if there was a way to plant it without needing to shut down the shield, or if it needed to be planted on the crate at all.

[HoodyC17]

Eva approaches Ajako, ignoring the other mercs' suspicions.

Evariki: High-profile or low-profile, Ajako?

She places her finger on to her M-4 Shuriken.

[Athaniar]

Ekhis looks nervously around the hold, from the container to the others to all possible ways in or out. She makes sure to keep her hand on her rifle at all times.

[Samfool]

Ajako turns to face Eva in a sinister fashion,
"Who told you to leave your post? You march your pretty little self BACK TO YOUR POST."

He shouts the last part and shoves Eva in the shoulder.

For reference (for I was a little unclear):
On the front left side of the crate, there is Lorik and Kuril
On the front right side of the crate, there is Ekhis and Marcus
On the back left side of the crate, there is Eva and Garrett
On the back right side of the crate there is Lucas and Ferix
Behind the crate there is Toleon and Stalker

The crate is about as tall as stalker and bolted in the center of the room. There are crates on the walls next to you, and there are two cargo bay doors on either side of the room, but the one of the left is the only one that works, the other is a decoy. Ajako is on the outside of the working door now.

This all means that Lorik and Kuril will be able to talk to and see Eva Garrett
and Toleon (he is on Stalker's left).
Ekhis and Marcus can see and talk to Lucas, Ferix and Stalker.
You may all call out to each other, but cannot see anyone that I have not described.

[Liffguard]

Lucas turns to Ferix and clears his throat.
So, uh, you like sports at all? Do Turians have sport? It's just I haven't really been out here all that long and, uh, well you've got the whole discipline and honour thing but I don't really know what you guys do for fun."

[Knight13]

Ferix gives Lucas an odd look.

"You could just do an extranet search, it's not like any of that is a secret. Yes Turians have sports, but I prefer tinkering with technology myself. As for what we do for fun, whatever we want. Sports, sparring, hobbies, extranet games, hard drinking, recreational drugs, whatever. As long as it doesn't interfere with your duties, nothing is forbidden."

[Liffguard]

Ferix gives Lucas an odd look.

"You could just do an extranet search, it's not like any of that is a secret. Yes Turians have sports, but I prefer tinkering with technology myself. As for what we do for fun, whatever we want. Sports, sparring, hobbies, extranet games, hard drinking, recreational drugs, whatever. As long as it doesn't interfere with your duties, nothing is forbidden."

"Huh." He settles into an uncomfortable silence for a moment. "Where're you from? Like, which planet?" Another pause. "How's the weather?"

[HoodyC17]

Eva sighed as Ajako seemed unreasonable. She still followed Ajako's orders and returned to the back left side of the crate.

[Knight13]

Ferix is starting to look annoyed with Lucas' questioning.

"Tuchanka. I'm a krogan, can't you tell?"

[Liffguard]

Ferix is starting to look annoyed with Lucas' questioning.

"Tuchanka. I'm a krogan, can't you tell?"

He holds his hands up defensively.
"Hey, just making small-talk. We're stuck here for..." He looks at his omni-tool, "...just how long are we stuck here for anyway?"

[HoodyC17]

Eva sighed with disappointment. Ajako didn't seem likeable anymore.

Evariki: Tell me Garrett... What is the Citadel like?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"Well, it's enormous. Makes Omega here look like a tiny suburb. Though when you look at it now it's clearly seen better days, what with the geth attack and all. But it somehow manages to still project that aura of majesty and grace. It's the center of the universe as far as Citadel Space is concerned, and it feels like it."

[Samfool]

You all feel the shake of the ship as it roars to life. A voice goes over the loudspeaker:

"We will be transporting the cargo to a larger ship in dead space in approximately four hours."

Kuril and Lorik both sighed in exasperation.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"Why the exasperated sighs, guys?" Garrett calls up to them.

[KingOfLaughter]

"Dead space, if my calculations are correct, which they always are, chances of us being attacked for our cargo grow by 31.487%. Chances of us being attacked by rabid wolves however, drops to .001%"

[Samfool]

"Why the exasperated sighs, guys?" Garrett calls up to them.
>.>
THIS.


Also, if no one else wants to talk, you can say what you are doing for the wait.


"We hate waiting." says Lorik.

After Stalker's response, Kuril goes to speak, but then decides it is best not to ask why we would be worried about wolves in space.

[KingOfLaughter]

Stalkers seems to go into a rest mode, simply sitting there and waiting for a reason to go bat **** cyber insane.

[Knight13]

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about the wolves...whatever those are."

Ferix flips his visor down and queues up some music on his omnitool.

[Athaniar]

Ekhis is not feeling very relaxed. She continues to keep watch while making sure her weaponry is ready. Just in case.