[IC] (d20) Mass Effect : Restoration

[TheMightyQuinn]

Mass Effect: Restoration

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For those of you who are going to be reading this, this is going to be an on-going thread for the Mass Effect game that I’m running for my real life players. Due to work schedules, ect, we’ve decided to bring the roleplay side of the game onto the boards to keep it going strong and work on our writing abilities, so feel free to read and enjoy if that’s the case.
Happy gaming, folks.


The universe is an inconceivably massive place, full of wonders, marvels, and things impossible for the mind to comprehend. Physicists have pondered the possibility of a multiverse for longer than even the Asari can remember. We don't need to wonder any more. An alternate reality is precisely where our story takes place.

History is a fickle thing. The tides of chance ebb and flow, and whole civilizations rise and fall at the toss of the Iron Dice.
Fifty thousand years ago, the Prothean Empire was one such victim of destruciton, but their determination and prowess against the seemingly insurmountable Reapers was not without consequences. Their empire collapsed, but they managed to take the majority of the Reapers with them, leaving only Sovereign, Harbinger and a skeleton crew of horrifically modified troops. But unlike organics who fumble through limited lifespans, Reapers are unconcerned with time. The last fifty thousand years has been an opportunity- to reassess, to rebuild. To restore the cycle of the harvest anew.

Antonni Atticus, a biotic rarity of the turian race. A scion of multiple prestigious bloodlines distilled into the form of an up-and-coming warrior. She is a near perfect balance of cunning and skill, defender to those she loves and deadly to those who stand against her.

Danica James, avatar of the human spirit of exploration. Born seventh to humble homesteaders, a powerful biotic who could never be satisfied with mundanity. She is feral and free, and though her actions are often questionable her intentions are always pure.

At a prestigious academy their friendship was sparked by their shared talents for biotic mayhem. Though on the surface you could not likely find two sentients more dissimilar, they forged an impregnable connection through their understanding of one anothers’ true self beneath. As close or closer than sisters, despite the separation of thousands of light years and millions of years of evolution between their origins.

Beyond the academy it was only natural for them to start their adult lives together, adventuring through the galaxy as they sought for their respective places in it. Shortly following graduation they and Danica’s childhood friend/fellow Waypoint farm kid Xander Ahdi signed on with their first employer in a heady rush of excitement and anticipation as freelance specialist support. To their great disillusionment, this group turned out to be a branch of Cerberus, the job a containment of an experiment gone wrong. However from the ashes of this false start rose a new, far superior opportunity in the form of the Solar Flare and her crew. The captain immediately recognized the potential of the trio and made an alternative offer of work, which she was taken up on without the barest hesitation.


https://orig00.deviantart.net/a1be/f/2013/058/c/3/knightsbridge_sclass_light_frigate_by_hazzard65-d5wfpth.jpg

The Solar Flare crew is a motley collection of freelancers headed by Nellavara Andiros (that’s just Nell to you), an asari of formidable skill and unflappable disposition. Her ‘first mate’ Rakim Meraxes, a turian of simple tastes and borderline romantic love of his firearms. Her batarian pilot and makeshift medic Bertanak ‘Bert’ Shir’kos, a surprisingly amiable gent who dotes on his emotional support pyjak Asa. An asari consort named Inyri Forsha, whose friendship with Nell spans the centuries and whose skills in the art of diplomacy are near supernatural. Her mysterious volus agent Rook Erye, of whom little is known regarding his business or intentions. Pelaeas Tyban, her brooding turian-exile mechanic who keeps the ship moving through the void and otherwise keeps to himself.

The three young adults fit in well among their new companions, for the most part. The return on the investment Nell was making by effectively apprenticing them was promising. Whether it was an infiltration of a salarian research center or the return of a biotic Quarian foundling child from Omega to the flotilla, the jobs Nell could take on were suddenly far more profitable and yet she still had the luxury of paying them novice-level rates. Things were going smoothly, if with a few growing pains, until the night of the party. What had begun as a fancified business meeting turned into a chain of events leading to questions of whether this investment would pay off or cost them.

Dani in her petty impetuosity assaulted an AI, which retaliated and hacked its way into her biotic implant. From there Atty and Rakim were compelled to stage an extraction of the scientist who would be able to stabilize her and prevent the AI from taking over altogether. To make matters worse, Rakim was forced to hold the line as Atty escaped with Alec Ryder. Subsequently he was arrested and faces a long, arduous prison sentence unless the crew can find and liberate him.

This is where we pick up. Dani’s unwelcome cranial guest has been shackled and modified. Atty is a bit shaken by Rakim’s selfless sacrifice but determined to repay it. Making a guerilla strike on a turian prison is going to be far from easy and will require the efforts of the entire crew.

[TheMightyQuinn]

https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/images/208/3183487-1395480413.jpg


*To say that things had been tense aboard the Solar Flare since Antonni returned with the human AI specialist, Ryder, would be an understatement. The tension had gotten high enough that it almost seemed like a tangible force that permeated the hallways. No one wanted to spend more time away from their job or their rooms than they had to, lest they be found by the stalking irritation of Captain Nell, lest they become the focus of her ire. None of them knew anyone who had done such a thing and could tell the tale.*

*The Captain had kept herself busy with her various duties while the last modifications and adjustments were made to make life with a stowaway in her head bearable for Dani, and hadn't pressured her to move things any faster, but after their parting words with their impromptu host, Miss Garson, the ship was barely out of atmo before Nells voice could be heard over the comms, clear and concise.*
"Everyone to the bridge. Now."

*It was as much a statement of fact as it was an order. It wasn't that she expected everyone to come to the bridge, they had just been waiting for her to give the order before the laws of physics dictated that they would arrive there, and none of them wanted to know what would happen if they pressed the matter.*

*As the crew made their shuffling entrance onto the bridge, Burt was suspiciously focused on the displays controlling their vessel as they finally broke free of the gravitational pull of the planet, while Nell was half sitting, half leaning on one of the consoles, her arms folded over her chest and back to all of them. Even Rook was present, dropping his cloaking technology as the others arrive to ensure that they're aware of him.*

*The silence stretches for a moment, before Nell finally speaks up, not bothering to turn and look at them, though she does grab her arms a little tighter to control herself, thin blue wisps of biotic power rising off of her like electric steam. When she does speak, her voice is tense, but controlled.*
"Dani. Anyone missing? Do you notice any large, Rakim shaped gaps in our number? There's a reason for that."

*She doesn't so much push herself from her leaning position as much as she simply rises, ignoring the dictates of mass and force as she straightens, turning to face them.*
"You. The reason is You, and this needs to be resolved. The Heirarchy isn't going to play nice with Rakim. They're not known for their understanding nature, so we're going to get him back. All hands on deck - all ideas are welcome. Pelius - if you've still got any contacts willing to talk to you, press them. Antonni - your family has connections. Pull some strings and keep pulling until you burn those bridges or something comes loose. Rook, I know you've got some dirt on some ambassadors - use it. Dani...."

*Her pause is enough to make even the brash young woman squirm a bit, those piercing blue eyes staring straight at her like icy drills for a long, unpleasant moment.*
"... You and I are going to have a very, very long talk, after which you're going to do everything in your power to make this right, or I will personally throw you out the airlock above the next human colony and let you figure the rest out yourself. Do we have any questions?"

*There is a noncommital mumbling of understanding from those present, and Nell just nods. There was work to be done, but it was going to take time, no matter what.*
"Good. Dismissed - except for you two. Dani, Atti. Follow."

*Stalking out of the room like she would walk straight over top anyone who chanced to get in her way, she heads for the galley, where they would be out of the way.*
"I'm being very, very forgiving here, Dani, so let me make this clear. You find a way to make this right. There is no 'or'. So, you come up with a plan. You're in charge of what we do. You're responsible for getting him back. Time to grow up a bit."

[keilyn]

*Dani's gut clenched tight at the dressing-down she was receiving. Her skin flushed and she shifted uncomfortably in place. Nell was already an intimidating woman, not dissimilar to her own mother, so a scathing, matronly lecture was not an unfamiliar experience. But this was somehow so much worse. Her friendly relationship with her mother was unconditional- the one with her boss, not even remotely so. It didn't help to see Pel standing over there, loving the **** out of seeing her get chewed out. She focused on glaring at him until Nell demanded her attention, then pointedly ignored him until the other crew was dismissed.

She was more than a bit flabbergasted by Nell's suggestion. This was a terrible plan- she was far from anything resembling a strategist. She was good at being loud and distracting and blowing **** up, and that was about the extent of it. And as tempting as it was, her pride wouldn't let her consider calling up Theo for some 'theoretical' strategical help. She turned a pleading, worried stare on Atti, who she hoped was still at the very least talking to her. Then looked back to Nell again.

"Just so we're clear, I know I ****ed up. I'm sorry, and I'm gonna make this right. But right now I'm pretty sure putting me in charge is more likely to **** this up more."

*She curls her shoulders in around herself remorsefully, turning to Atti.*

"Atti, you're one of the smartest people I know, I think we could figure something out together. I trust you a lot more than I trust myself, anyway."

[Ink_sans05]

Atty nod, standing with poise as she turns to her captain
"I can contact my parents, try to see where he's been put, from there we gather intel, how long the troops shift is, how many there are, timing will be critical if we don't want to get caught, first, we need three teams, one distraction team, one team to get Rakim out, and one to keep watch, others to guard the ship and lz, second, we get the materials, we gather our guns, strongest armor, and other items to get Rakim out, we could buy the materials, making them would be a better option though, something no one will expect, but most importantly we have to make sure we don't get caught"
Atty explains, holding a confidence to her tone, a small, reassuring turian smile appearing on Atty's face as she looks at her freind, Danni

[keilyn]

*Dani returns a chagrined but grateful smile back to Atty, happy her actions at least hadn’t harmed her BFF’s opinion of her. The two sit and plot for a goodly amount of time right there in the galley, Dani frequently making trips to the cabinets for snacks and booze. Dani seems as energized now as she was demoralized before- the ‘magic feather’ of Atty’s companionship giving her the confidence to maybe haphazardly stumble her way into a successful strategy. After several hours the two wear out, resolving to finalize their scheming the next day.

The next day the two present their ideas to Nell, Dani already somehow back to her manic self.*

“Okay. So. Lucky for us the turians are suuuper anal retentive about procedure. What's funny is that Atty’s mad I won’t tell her what that euphemism means. Yeah it sounds rude, but really it’s-” *Dani stops mid-sentence at Nell’s icy glare and clears her throat.* “Right. Procedure. So we already have a really good idea of what prison he’s headed for based on the location of the court he’s scheduled for. It’s this here iridium mine island on Nhatix. It’s just a plateau, maybe a few kilos across and totally surrounded by ocean for hundreds of miles. Pretty ingenious if you're okay with the whole prisoners as slave labor thing.”

“Anyway, so the actual schematics are confidential, naturally, but we’ve made a pretty good holo mockup from some mildly clandestine orbital photos. It looks like the facility is dead center on the island and surrounded by six AA guns and kinetic shields just to prevent escape attempts like this one. Pretty intimidating at first, I won’t lie, but then I got an idea:
We do an airdrop.

“The shuttle drops us from sub-orbit, too high for the AA guns to track. And we’ll be too small for their scanners. Terminal velocity is too slow to trigger the kinetic shield dome, we’ll pass right through. ‘And then the guards on the ground will fill us full of holes’ you might say. And normally you'd be right. Well that’s why, precisely after passing through the dome each of us finishes it up with a biotic Charge. And we’ll each be doing it tandem, with Xander, Pelaeas and Inyri, so whoever's strapped on can lay down a few arc or disruptor grenades ahead of us for good measure- throw Rakim a nice big ‘welcome back’ party he’ll really appreciate. After that, I'll keep the heat on outside while Team Infiltrate busts the big guy loose. From there getting out should be easier than getting in.

“Now, no extraction with these AA guns online, right? So someone’s going to have to be on disabling those. I thought Xander would be best for that-” she stops, gives a sardonic eyebrow arch and sniff, “-but he’s more valuable as a combatant, so probably have Pel do it. Anyway, I’ll be drawing as much fire and trying to soak as little of it as possible until everyone else is back on the shuttle. We should have up to an hour or so before a response team from the orbital station can make it down.

“Other than that, definitely recommending helmets for this one since no one wants to make it to the Hierarchy’s **** list, and for the ship to stay on the opposite side of the planet from the station. So. How’s that?”

[TheMightyQuinn]

“This isn’t a question of whether you know that you turned this situation into a liquidy steaming stream of varren squirts, and I know you’re going to make it right. There’s no other option. I’m putting you in charge so that you can see exactly how difficult it is to fix this kind of mess. Bottom line, you need to figure out that your choices and actions have consequences, and it doesn’t seem like being patient has been working. So now it’s sink or swim, so straighten up and start acting like an adult.”

*Nell listens to the two women talk and nods, approving of the way they’re handling it.*
“Good. You two can make this work. Straighten your shoulders, stop feeling sorry for yourself and start thinking about the fact that you’re fixing a situation you made.”
*Nell doesn’t bother saying anything more before leaving the two to work.*
====

*Her mood hadn’t much improved when Nell finally got the ping on her omnitool that Dani and Atti were waiting for her. When she finally stomps into the room, she sees the two women sitting, surrounded by the detrius of their planning, and she leans heavily on the table, just raising an eyebrow. As Dani starts to explain her plan, Nell interrupts as little as possible.*
“Klicks. Kilos are weight. Klicks are what you mean.”

*Letting her finish, Nell had lowered her head and closed her eyes as she listened, running the plans through her head, before finally speaking softly once Dani had finished.*
“So, let me get this right, so that I completely understand this nightmarish fiasco you’re calling a plan.”

*She holds up a single finger, her eyes still closed and head down.*
“First, you want us to jump out of a shuttle plummeting at terminal velocity, time our biotic charges at the exact moment we’re within sixty feet of the ground to stick the landing. Terminal velocity, or roughly 176 feet per second, meaning we have a margin of error of less than three tenths of a second, and if we flub, we’re smashing against solid rock and hardened steel.”

*Holding up a second finger, she continues.*
“On top of that, you want us to do it with a second person strapped onto our backs.”

*Another finger rises*
“We’re then going to do a full frontal assault of the maximum security Turian facility, searching blindly for Rakim while you singlehandedly maintain the exterior assault, and Pel disables the hardened military grade defenses.”

*Not bothering to continue the visual cues with her fingers, Nell just places her hand back on the table, resting her weight on her shoulders.*
“Then, assuming all of that goes swimmingly, the shuttle is going to come rushing in, we’re going to make a hot extraction, and get out of the system before any reinforcements - the location of which we can only guess at - show up to vaporize us. Tell me, Dani, did I miss anything? Is there some sane or reasonable detail that I didn’t catch, because I’m kinda hoping there was one.”

*Raising her head, she looks over to Atti and spreads her hands, expecting some kind of response.*
“And you, Atti - you’re on board with this? You helped come up with this plan?”

[keilyn]

Dani shifts from one foot to another, alternating support restlessly as Nell dissects her plan. She fumes a little- this woman demands I come up with a plan, then immediately ****s all over it?? She knew who she was asking! Dani may have actually learned something after all, however, and manages to bite the hell out of her tongue (literally at one point) rather than shoot off her mouth.

The whole situation was beyond frustrating on so many levels- normally she had contacts to spare, but none of them were usable for this situation. Hell, she had no intentions of even telling any of her family about this mess, and she told them everything. She was more than aware of her own limits even if she feigned ignorance, and they were shining brightly before her face right now, making it harder to keep up the bold facade she had crafted over the years.

She exchanges looks with Atty as Nell makes her assessment, turning a spark plug over in her hand idly to help her keep her tongue in check.

"Firstly, I'm the one you asked to come up with a plan, so expecting my ideas to not be at least mostly crazy is a little unreasonable. Let's be real. Secondly, assaulting a turian prison is pretty much antithetical to sanity in the first place- if you want to do the 'sane people' thing we can keep an eye on what he gets sentenced for and schedule out a pickup."

She scratches at an itch on her opposite arm with the sparkplug, her expression going flat and her eyes distant. "I mean if you insist, we can start over and try to come up with something else. But you full well know we're short on options and long on limitations here. Plus, Atty and I have actually field tested the Falling-Charge thing before, off a hotel skyscraper. Okay, it was pretty much only me that did it, Attytried to tell me not to. And it was just the one time. But it worked!"

[Ink_sans05]

Atty sighs

"yes, she has tried it, I tried to get a different strategy, but eventually I agreed, this is a crime entirely, if we get caught our asses will end up on a prison just like this one, if not the same, I would rather keep the status I have, not ruining it for my entire family in the future."

" we can only hope everything goes smoothly, but we'll have to train this ability if we want to stand a chance at this jump, it's insane, but what is sanity? A concept created to denounce right and wrong? There is no difference between right and wrong except the ones personally defined by every soul in this galaxy"

Atty explains, standing with poise as she put her hands behind her back

[TheMightyQuinn]

*Nell takes a deep breath and holds it for a moment, seemingly exasperated, before slowly exhaling and rubbing the bridge of her nose with two fingers.*
“Alright. So, you’re telling me that you’re in agreement. Well.”

*Nell finally drops her hand and the small smile on her face is impossible to mistake for anything but mischevious glee.*
“Color me impressed. I was worried you’d think of some hair brained scheme that wouldn’t go far enough to actually get the job done, but I think this will do it. While difficult, each step is possible, and other than getting those AA guns offline and escaping before reinforcements get there, each step is fairly independent of the others. Go big or don’t bother, right?”

*Moving over to the small heating unit, Nell places a ceramic mug of water inside, and while it heats, she retrieves one of her tea packets, brewing herself a cup.*
“We’ll need to get a few things right. There isn’t much of a way to practice the biotic drop, short of actually dropping. I can probably get Rook and Pel to rig up some parachutes so that we can do free-fall tests with a pre-set ‘ground’ elevation. Once we hit the pre-set spot, we have to engage the charge, then we’ll continue the drop, parachute as normal, and do it over and over again until we get it right.”

*As the timer goes off for her water, Nell retrieves the drink and slowly dunks the tea bag.*
“We’ll have to know more about the shifts and replacement schedule for the prison. Rook can pull his strings and find out when the scheduled troop drops are, so that we can have a better chance of avoiding any reinforcements.”

*After a small sip, she continues*
“It’ll be best to rig up a temporary communications jammer, too, until we can take control of the comm array and make sure they don’t get any emergency calls out. Otherwise…. Not a bad plan, ladies.”

[keilyn]

Dani hadn’t realized she’d been practically holding her breath until Nell’s sudden mood change caused her to unconsciously cough out a laugh of relief. There was a dizzy, heady sort of feeling afterward as she picked up a half-eaten protein bar off the table and took a bite of it.

“The airdrop is a little easier than you think. Really you can be just a couple feet off the ground and still make it work. Apparently. Ahem. But yeah, testing it- actually anywhere with a cliff next to a body of water should be good. That way failures hurt but aren’t fatal. And yeah, I’ll admit I’m not entirely sure that a tandem Charge will work, but as long as the second person is in close contact and well-secured it should work fine.

“Yeah, the building schematics, that was one thing we obviously couldn’t get. But I figure, take what we know about turian prisons in general, make for the control center and go from there. Maybe Rook can find us some higher-tier access codes? For crowd control outside I think Xander can rig up a turret and Pel’s got his (stupid) drone. And maybe-”

She looks over to Atty with a wicked grin.

“Maybe we can hit the place when the soldiers are out in the mines. A nice little prison riot could help keep the guards inside the building busy, if you think they’d fight back once they had a chance. Maybe there's an armory for the guards we can get them access to. Nell, for the AA guns, if Pel isn’t up to the sabotage then we can always pack along some heavier duty detonation charges. Then it’s just crack open the access panel and BOOM. Our backup plan can be hijacking one of the prison shuttles, but that’ll be harder.”

She smirked to herself a little. She knew on some level it greatly bothered So naturally she was trying to make sure he had to play a relatively big role in it. All a part of her self-decided ‘prank’ war. She slugged back a can of the remains of some kind of sugary drink.

“Oh, and Atty, you can’t forget to bring Vera along. Rakim must miss her,” Dani winked at her friend. “Almost as much as he misses you.”

[Ink_sans05]

Sighing, Atty leans against the counter, picking up a dextro-donut

"I won't forget, turian prisons are highly strict, an outbreak won't last long, but it could work to distract gyards for a short time, I know a few passcodes that could help us get clearance to some stuff."

Atty takes a small bite of the donut before continuing

"So, when do we start training?"

She asks simply, her tone holding determination and courage in it strongly as she slowly finished the donut, waiting for orders from Nell

[TheMightyQuinn]

*Sipping at her tea, Nell pulls a chair up to the table and sits, listening to their ideas for a moment before chiming in.*
“Well, charging into water is definitely a good idea, but it’s still going to hurt if we mess it up. And when I said we’d only have three tenths of a second leeway, that’s taking into account the fact that we can engage a charge all the way up to a few inches from the target. The dangerous thing is the terminal velocity - if we don’t hit that window, we’ll hit the ground, but a little practice will be good. Practice with someone on our backs will be better.”

“As far as schematics, everything is available for the right price - and if you know the right people, and it just so happens that Rook knows a lot of them, so I’m sure we’ll be able to get our hands on something better than an educated guess. Especially if you take into consideration the fact that you just got a hefty payday. Access codes and such will cost extra, but would make things easier.”

“As far as the AA guns, I’d feel better with the demo charges than just trying to hack them. Kinda hard to screw up just tearing things up, after all.”

*With a grin, she swirls the last of her tea and tosses the used bag in the recycler.*
“Atty, I think Dani is right. If you forget to bring Vera, I’m not sure Rakim would forgive you. I’m amazed he trusted you with her. I think he’s got a bit of a crush, all things considered. And training? We start just as soon as we arrive at location.”

*Throwing back the rest of her drink, she sets her mug in the small sink and heads for the bridge, calling out to Bert as she does.*
“Bert! I need you to find me a wet planet to do some high-diving. Preferrably with only a few things that could eat us if we get in the water. What do you think is nearby?”

“Water without critters? You know how rare that is right? I mean, when they look for life, they start by looking for water. You just can’t make things easy on me. What are we doing anyways?”

“We’re going to start jumping out of the shuttle at a few hundred feet, and practice not dying.”

“Not dying is really easy, Nell. I’ve found that jumping out of shuttles makes that harder. Have you tried not jumping out of shuttles to start?”

“Yeah, we’ve had some great luck with that so far, so we want to take the challenge up a bit, you know?”

“Of course you do. Why would you ever be satsified with ‘I haven’t died yet, and neither has my crew’.”

“Now you’re getting the idea, Bert.”
*As the two banter, the rotund figure of Rook shimmers into view just a few feet away, the sound of his filtered breathing suddenly quite loud in the room.*
"So, I will start looking for information."
Fffftttshh.
"But it's not going to be cheap."
bhhhhhhp
"I'm guessing you'd like higher grade explosives too."
Fffffttshhh.
"I know just the guy......."
Bhhhhhp.
"hehehehe...."
*And then he shimmers away again, his stubby fingers stabbing away at his omnitool as he waddles away into flickering light, leaving the two friends alone in the dining room to process.*

[keilyn]

Dani smirks over to Atty.“Well. That went better than expected. I was gonna go hash out some things with Xander, if you wanna come with. Oh, and how do you feel about jelly donuts? I have an idea for after we get Rakim back.”

She states her last sentence like it’s an incontrovertible fact, as though there is no question of ‘if’. Whether it’s confidence or bravado, she has already determined to herself how this was going to turn out. This situation hanging over her head was a burden she was eager to be rid of.

She waits to see if Atty is coming or has her own plans before meandering down to Xander’s bunk. She explains the general plan to him while having him fix her hair- a silly vanity that nonetheless had been bugging her since she’d woken up from her weeks-long induced coma. A freaking hole had been bored into the side of her skull, to say nothing of the surgical scars to match, she could still feel it all on the left side and lower-back of her head. Xander produces a set of clippers, shearing away the hair from the left third of her head as they discuss details and he provides feedback. The rest she leaves long and swept off to the right, displaying her scars openly.

Afterwards she retires to her own bunk to do some extranet searching for tech that could be of use on this mission and to get her gear together and ready for jumping. She makes a few calls to various siblings, making subtle queries that she hopes will garner her information without providing any solid clues as to what she is planning on doing. Most importantly, she lets them know she’ll be out of contact for a while. Somewhere back in her head the smallest flicker of worry flares up, which she quashes with the force of denial.

http://haircutsbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/vintage-slick-pompadour-haircuts-men-91dfe919b9fae5409f0fa158669f172b.jpg

[Ink_sans05]

"Sure, jelly donuts sound good"

Atty awnsered, contacting her family and explainingredients she wouldn't be able to talk for a while due to an important mission.

Atty ate another donut while waiting to get to the training site, silently panicking, Turians and water donut mix under any circumstance

[TheMightyQuinn]

*The Solar Flare isn't the fastest ship in the universe, but even with that taken into account, it's only three relay jumps before the ship and crew find themselves called up to the bridge by Nell, where Burt has his feet kicked up and is carefully folding a tiny piece of paper, three of his eyes focused in concentration, before he finally holds up the tiny origami figure to Rook, who stands nearby.*
"See? It's a flaxus bud?"

bhhhhhhp
"It looks like wrinkled paper."
Fffffttshhh.

*Burt seems genuinely offended, and frowns, pointing out small details that seem suspiciously like random crinkes in the attempted folds.*
"No, see, this here is the seed pod..."

"Boys. Play with paper later. Burt. You told me we're here?"
*Nell was back to her smoothly patient self, though she was more sullen than usual. Not the kind of dangerous tension that had been prevalent before, but just the sense that she was keeping to herself - something that was markedly difficult to do on such a small ship. She wasn't crackling with energy or pointing guns at anyone though, so things were definitely looking up.*
"Oh, yeah! I give you.."

*With a grand gesture, Burt pulls up planetary scans on the large holo-display and spreads his hands wide in obvious pleasure at his achievement.*
"Erinle! Ta da!"

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/masseffect/images/d/d8/Erinle.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100202221113

*He sits quietly for a moment, his eyes shifting around the gathered crew before slumping and heaving a heavy sigh.*
"You asked for a good planet to practice being stupid on, I brought you here. Why is no one happy? I'm happy. Come on, tens of thousands of planets in the universe, and I know one close by that fits exactly what we need? I though you'd all be voiding your bowels with surprise. 'Oh, wow, Burt, you're amazing, how did you know about this place?' 'Well, you know, I know lots of things.' 'Well, you deserve a raise, then!'"

*Nell cuts his rant short with a curt "Nope" and waves a hand absently at the display.*
"Alright, Mr. Funny. What makes it so perfect?"

*With more than a little grumbling, Burt pulls up detailed schematics and kicks his feet back once more as he talks.*
"So, Erinle was a golden world at one point, but there isn't much left to sustain life at this point. There's still heavy mining, small agriculture and hey look there - a fuelling depot, but there's nothing larger than some small insects and algea in the water, so ta-da! A planet with no one to pay attention to us, water deep enough to jump into, nice central location, cool winters and moderate summers, and everything you could want in your new vacation home."
*He pulls up a new screen and overlays it onto the display, jerking a thumb at it while he talks.*

https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/6000/6944/ISS013-E-54243_lrg.jpg

"I even found this really neat lake that isn't radioactive at all, with no life forms that want to turn you into a handy snack. So, you're welcome. We land the ship, head up with the shuttle, and everyone takes turns playing who wants to go first."

*Nell considers it for a moment before giving the Batariaan a solid slap on the shoulder and smiling.*
"I knew you could find us something. That's why I pay you so well."

"You don't pay me hardly anything, you know."
"Well, I would pay you even less if you weren't so good, so count your lucky stars."

*Turning around to the rest of the group, she claps her hands and points to Dani.*
"Alright, this was your idea, so you're jumping first. We'll make the first few tries without anyone strapped to our backs, so we can get the timing down, then we team up - Atty and I will pair up, Dani, you and Pel will be a team. That way there's at least one person who can swim strapped to the piles of plates and irritation that can't. No, the stick doesn't count as a flotation device, Pel, so yes, you'll be wearing a vest..*

*As she speaks, she points to Rook, kneeling down to speak to the Volus.*
"I assume that you'll be able to pilot the shuttle well enough to manage this, are you able to get the other gear we need routed to the fuel depot here, and we'll pick it up on the way?"

bhhhhhhp
"Of course. I've already got my contacts on the way."
Fffffttshhh.

bhhhhhhp
"And have I never told you about my time as a bomber pilot?"
Fffffttshhh.
bhhhhhhp
"Great story. I'll have to tell you sometime.."
Fffffttshhh.
bhhhhhhp
"Volus are renowned storytellers, after all."
Fffffttshhh.

*Nell, for her part, simply nods sagely and keeps a straight face.*
"Indeed - I'm sure The Bard would have been awed, but for now, we just need the piloting skills."

http://klamathvalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Crater-Lake2.jpg

*With the ship safely landed, and Bert doing systems checks and Aya, the emotional support pyjak streaking out an open door to explore, the crew finds their way to the shuttle bay, where Pel is waiting at the side door, grinning about as wide as turians are capable of, and offers a hand up the last step to Dani and Atty.*
"So, while I'm not enthused about the idea of getting dragged into this scheme with you, I am going to enjoy watching the terror on your face the first few jumps, so I suppose it's the little things in life that we have to enjoy, right?"

[keilyn]

Dani was unsurprised by Nell’s declaration that she’ll be first out. She was still operating in mea culpa mode, the holdover of an adolescence rife with transgressions and parents whose last nerves were frequently tested. She could easily remember the first time it was a sibling, not a parent, to pick her up from the juvenile holding center. Her oldest sister had ended up calling her out in a way she’d never forgotten.

Flashback

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Her dread shifted to puzzlement on seeing Rochelle’s face rather than her mother’s. Her sister, home on vacation with Inyri, had an expression of cold disappointment that rivalled Mom’s any day.

“Where’s Mom and Dad?”

“They’re not ready to talk to you yet.”

Like a blow to the stomach. Dani’s voice fell soft, contrite.

“But...no one got hurt?”

Rochelle turned and glared at her. Glared, like actual smoldering anger in her eyes, a faint blue sheen glistening over her skin in unconscious concurrence. It was shocking enough to silence Dani- a formidable task that only she and now Nell had ever managed.

“One of these days Dani, you’re going to pull this...this s***,” Dani winced. Of all the siblings, only Ro usually made any effort at not swearing. “And you’re going to get yourself killed. Or worse, you’ll get someone else killed, and then you’re going to wish for the rest of your life it had been you instead.”

It was a painful struggle to hold back the tears. Ro had never before spoken to her so harshly. Her parents had never before been so upset as to completely avoid her as their umbrage cooled. She didn’t reply as they climbed into the car, sniffling intermittently. Ro had later apologized, though deep inside...Dani knew she was right.
----------------------------------------------------------------------


The old memory had come back in living color when she’d woken up and learned Rakim was gone. She’d nearly collapsed in relief to hear he was still alive, and now that sensation was acting as a turbo charged fuel cell to power her through the doubts and fears that she was ignoring. It wasn’t the fall that was worrying her the most. It was everything that was coming after that. She was good, nay, excellent at a great deal of things- but 'not getting shot' was a good ways down that list, and that was going to be her primary objective after ‘explodify everything.’

She gears up, putting on her best cocky smirk and swagger and packing her helmet under one arm. They approach the shuttle and see Pel hanging out the open door. The competitive, mischievously antagonistic feelings he inspires in her flare up at his jovial mockery. She chuckles and grins bigger, flashing her teeth at him in a primal display of dominance.

“Terror? Boy, please.” She pointedly uses her biotics to boost her up, ignoring his hand. “I live for this.”

Her feisty proclamation is...mostly true. Once the shuttle is up in the air, the distance looks far greater than she’d anticipated. It’s far enough to get to terminal velocity, as it must be, but not even as far as they’d be falling on Nhatix. The reality of how difficult it’s going to be to actually perform the airdrop and Charge precisely starts to settle in her gut. And with Pel of all people strapped on! Her stomach is full to bursting with butterflies, but she can let no one know. Must live up to expectations.

She turns, facing the small group watching her intently. With a mad grin, positioning her heels just over the edge of the hatch, she fires off a jaunty salute to Nell and Atty.

“Welp. Here goes nothing.”

She winks at Pel and makes a playful clicking noise just before she pulls on and secures her helmet. She then spreads her arms palms out, raises her chin confidently and simply tips backwards out of the shuttle.

Falling. She soon manages to pull out of her flip, angling herself head-down towards the planet to make for faster trip and a smaller target profile for the imaginary prison guards below. The wind whips by her intensely and her heartbeat accelerates wildly. The adrenaline surge kicks in, one of her favorite and least illegal substances to partake in. She shrieks a whoop over the comm for emphasis, but then falls quiet as the clouds dissipate and the lake grows ever larger in her view. Concentration taking priority over bravado.

Her breathing slows, deep and controlled as she watches the HUD display’s height reading count down ridiculously quickly. Her heart continues to hammer away, and for a few desperate seconds she’s not sure she’s going to get the timing right. If not, this was going to suck in a big way. She reaches the ‘Dome’ height and maneuvers herself so her body is parallel to the water surface, both for proper mnemonic positioning for her biotics and to slow her descent just enough. Hopefully. She activates her Charge.

Reflex Save Roll:
[roll0]


Dani ignites in a burst of purplish blue, the world distorting around her in a familiar fashion as she accelerates to near relativistic speed. She hits the water with only about 10 feet to spare, and the surface erupts around her in an explosive mist. The mass effect field she generated takes the entirety of the impact and multiplies it, vaporizing all the water within a five foot radius of herself. For a brief instant she’s at the center of an empty sphere created around her, staring at the wall of water all around her before it suddenly rushes in on itself, swallowing her whole. The helmet keeps most of the water out at first, but it’s no breather helmet and she instinctively ascends as quickly as she can before it fills.

“That was awesome!” she exuberates over her comm.

[keilyn]

Atty sighs, she acted confident, yet she was very nervous, about it, she was at least somewhat reassured by the fact she was going second.

"Alright, I understand"

Atty says simply as Nell explains what their doing, Arty's acid green eyes wandered over to the screen showing the lake, glad there wouldn't be anything that could munch on them like some odd insect chocolate bites.

Getting her gear on, she watched as Danny flew out the shuttle, worrying for her friend. Atty was soon ready, she was often prepared before she needed to be, just in case an emergency came up.

Atty mentaly sighed in relief when she heard her friend over the intercom, signaling she was ok.