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Tip of the Iceberg: A Mass Effect RP [TBM and Lord DreamCrusher]

The Pa'vex appeared as a typical turian frigate with no immediately outstanding features to set it apart at a glance. The airlock opened out into the command deck near the midsection of the vessel which was large and open with crew stations along the walls and the center of the space dominated by the captain's chair resting upon a somewhat elevated platform to quite literally allow whoever was sitting in it to look down upon their subordinates. Of course, said chair was notably larger than normal and custom made to fit Kar's increased size and mass, but it was the only obvious standout thus far to suggest the vessel was anything more than standard.

The crew complement was rather lacking with many stations empty but this didn't hamper performance; the ship had had her systems re-worked to automate as much as possible. Those that were on board were mostly turians who were both duty-bound to follow the vessel into the service of a new captain and also perhaps concerned about trying to prevent its misuse under a krogan whom they didn't exactly trust at face value. The other roughly twenty to thirty percent of the crew were humans. Regardless of what politics were at play in the past, and what the reports might say, the krogan people as a whole attributed the curing of the genophage as a human endeavor. Relations between the two species had grown close in the decades following the Reaper War and hadn't shown any signs of wavering. While the humans themselves were perhaps less enthusiastic about the friendship than the krogans were, the human alliance had taken more firmly to working together and the humans that were a part of Kar's crew were those who volunteered for the role rather than having been pressured into it.

Stopping near the center of the command deck, Kar turned to regard Sera as she rushed to unload the information she had uncovered during her hacking job. The information was suspicious but not much to go on. If he were still back in C-sec he'd write it off as too little to investigate but, as a spectre, he had a bit more freedom in such regards. Of course, he still was held accountable to the Council so he couldn't just do anything he wanted but there was breathing room if she could convince him to feel strongly about this. "Not that strange as far as shady deals go. I'm sure it's nothing good but it would be hard to act on just that alone. Do you know anyhting more about the foreman's accident? What research Belia Industries is currently working on? Or what the weapons factory was doing before the shutdown?"
 
Sera looked around the frigate as she stepped aboard. Seemed like a mostly standard frigate to her, but that wasn't too much of a surprise. She didn't know how much room the krogan Spectre would have to enforce his will if he wanted to make changes, but he was the first of his species to be a Spectre. Maybe he just didn't want to spend the goodwill on something so frivolous, instead saving it down the road. Or he had requested and been denied, and didn't want to push it for the same reason. Either way, that large chair was the only sign of anything other than a turian being in charge of the vessel, or that she wasn't a military vessel at this point.

The rest of the crew made her feel a bit nervous. After her last encounter, just about anyone new made her feel that way, and there were a lot of new faces. She knew logically that none of the crew could be working for or with Belia Industries. Even with their reach, it was inconceivable that they would have a mole or someone on every single Spectre ship in the entire galaxy, especially one that had only recently become a Spectre. For that reason, she easily managed to dismiss her concerns.

Still feeling weak from her brief torture, Sera leaned carefully on a console, one she had identified as having nothing that she could accidentally press to cause problems for the ship. "I did look into the foreman's accident. Supposedly, the foreman fell into a cooling vat and drowned while working a late shift. The suspicious thing is something I noticed immediately, but no authority seemed to pick up on. The vat that the foreman fell in was sealed. The authorities claimed the seal malfunctioned to close after the foreman fell in, but what are the odds of that? The research they are currently working on was too classified for me access at that moment, but in the past, they've mostly acted as almost a charity group, producing cheap but effective healing stims. Nothing spectacular, but enough to get through the pain until you can get real help. Finally, the weapons factory was primarily making explosives elements. Some bomb components, the firing chambers for pretty much any gun, that sort of thing."
 
Kar grunted at the new information, it helped further her case but still felt very circumstantial. He didn't doubt the company was up to something it shouldn't be doing but he wasn't sure that what effectively amounted to a gut instinct would sway the council. Still, he'd take any opportunity to do some real work rather than patrolling empty space. "Not sure if the council will sign off on this but I'll see what I can do. In the meantime you need to get those wounds treated, get cleaned up, and get some rest."

He waved to one of his crew, a young turian woman, who came over immediately even if her body language was a bit stiff. "Take her to the infirmary first. Then make sure she gets the chance to clean herself up and rest. She's under our protection for now." The turian nodded at the orders and turned towards one of the two doors at the back of the command deck. "This way. Medical is at the back of this deck, before engineering." On a ship this size the infirmary wasn't very large and thus was positioned at the back of the mess hall. The fact that the mess hall was on the main deck was perhaps a bit odd but was supposed to 'foster better comradery among crew by being a centralized space within the ship'.

While walking the female would explain a bit more about the general layout in the hopes of putting Sera at more ease. "The crew quarters are spaced out on the lower deck in between the primary and secondary weapon systems. The upper deck is just the captain's quarters. The...Pa'vex..." A clear pause came as if it was difficult for her to actually call the vessel by the name before she continued. "...is one of many variant frigates designed to better accommodate the needs of the council's spectres. I can't tell you more without the proper clearance but rest assured you are safe aboard this ship."
 
"I hope the Council doesn't completely ignore the threat. It may not seem like much, but something tells me this isn't just a minor side project. Even corporations don't send out assassins on a whim, after all, so if the information I have was worth killing me over, I'm sure that it's worth passing on."

At his word and orders to the turian, Sera followed her, looking around as she listened to the spiel about the layout of the ship, more intrigued by the proximity of the infirmary to the mess hall. That hardly seemed like standard layout, but Sera wasn't one to judge.

As she walked into the infirmary, she nodded to the turian. "I understand. And I appreciate the protection, believe me. I've been through enough to truly appreciate being in a place that I can feel safe." As she spoke, she looked around the infirmary. "Where do you keep the medical supplies? I mean no offense, but I'd like a bit of privacy when it comes to getting my wounds taken care of, and do it myself." She didn't want to go into details, but even with the seemingly friendly turian, the idea of being in any state of undress around anyone made her feel quite concerned. She'd give in if she had to. Being treated was more important, after all, but if there was a way to treat herself without exposing her body to anyone else, that would be much more preferable to Sera.
 
Traveling through a small hallway behind the command deck opened into the mess hall. Much like the previous room this one was rather open, though with a centralized table and chairs instead. Immediately to their left, and between the two halls that led to the command deck, was an elevator for access to the lower deck. The meal preparation area was split between the left and right side walls, one for storage and one for actually cooking, and at the back section the infirmary would be clear to see as a rectangular room to the back right; adjacent to the elevator up to the captain's quarters and the doorway that led to engineering according to the turian's explanation.

"That would be against protocol. Our doctor is an experienced professional, fear not." It didn't really seem like the woman recognized any bashfulness or embarrassment but rather figured it was uncertainty related to medical qualification. In any case she'd remain outside in the mess while gesturing to the door for the infirmary, waiting to lead Sera to her quarters once her medical needs were met. Shy or not the doctor, an older female turian, insisted on examining and treating Sera herself. The location of the stab wounds required some partial states of undress to deal with but not full disrobing and the lack of inner windows ensured the quarian's privacy; not to mention privacy screens to block line of sight even if anyone else should enter the room.

The process wouldn't take long thankfully since all the doctor needed to do was break away the medi-gel and properly clean and dress the wounds so, only maybe ten minutes later at most, would Sera be cleared to leave; having suffered no abuse or judgement from the doctor and with the younger turian ready and able to lead Sera down to the lower deck and her quarters. Meanwhile Kar would settle in to his seat and attempt to contact the council. This wasn't a sensitive enough matter to require his private terminal in his quarters; his command crew could be trusted after all and they'd already heard the discussion between him and the quarian. "I've responded to a distress call from a freelancer working on Noveria, saved her from an assassin in the process. I'm reporting to you to discuss the details of what she has discovered... and hopefully convince you to authorize further investigation..."
 
Sera tried not to show her discomfort as the doctor worked on healing her stabs, especially the one in her stomach. While the suit covered up her body well enough, and the torso was sectioned off enough to allow for her stomach to be examined without exposing her breasts, she still felt uncomfortable having any of her torso bared, and her suit was still slightly damp below the waist.

It wasn't too long before Sera was following the younger turian down to her quarters in the lower deck. Strangely, she felt more comfortable below deck than she did above. Perhaps it was because she was further from the airlock, or it could just be the familiarity of being on a ship without it being clearly military. As she entered the room that was indicated to her, Sera thanked the turian before sealing the door behind her and activating the privacy screen. Stripping down, she set aside her suit and activated its cleaning protocols. After a few minutes, she put it back on, satisfied that it was, in fact, no longer wet. With that, she laid down to rest. She wouldn't get much sleep, but she could at least relax.



Across the galaxy, the four Council members all absorbed what Kar had passed along. The turian councilor was the first to respond. "Belia Industries?" He repeated. "That is a rather interesting company to make these claims against. Healing stims and weapons seem...counter-productive to each other."

"There is no indication that they are continuing to use the factory for its original purpose," the asari councilor countered. "Without proof of the factory's output, or even whether there is any output at all, I see no reason to investigate further. The authorities have already looked into the matter, it seems, and they do not appear dissatisfied."

The young human woman on the Council responded. "It wouldn't be the first time that a corporation managed to get overlooked by the authorities. Especially one based in Noveria. I have to admit, the timing of the purchase is a bit troubling. There's being the first bidder, and then there's waiting to make the bid, knowing it's coming. I'm inclined to authorize a further investigation."

"As am I," the turian added. "The timing is suspicious, and I also find the attempted assassination of this quarian troubling. Given how you described the scene, it wasn't just a way to silence her, but to send a message to anyone else who might want to speak up. That is not something to be taken lightly. I assume Councilor Telos will not be approving this investigation, therefore Councilor Helar...?"

Silence fell for several seconds, before the salarian councilor spoke somewhat haltingly, her youthful voice belying the analytical mind that was clearly still processing the information even as she spoke. "With caveats. While I'm inclined to agree with most of my fellow councilors, we do not want any sort of incident. This will have to be done quietly. Minimal ground team, and absolutely no violence unless necessary. We do not want to cause an incident with any corporation, much less one on Noveria. We do not need the fallout if it comes out that the Council interfered with the workings of a private company, after all. Unless you come up with some solid proof of wrongdoing, beyond that which Noverian government would accept, we can only offer to look the other way. We cannot official sanction an investigation, but we will not stop one."
 
"Don't worry, I won't shoot anyone else unless they shoot me first." That was Kar's idea of a joke but not entirely without merit either. The council looking the other way while he poked around more was better than he had expected with how little information they had to go on in the first place but it still meant his work was cut out for him. "I'll just show some... initiative then and see if I can turn up anything more damning on my own. If not, well, the girl will have to live with the fact that the galaxy isn't always a kind place."

Kar would wait in case any of the council members had any last things to say before dropping the call. As little as he cared about other's opinions of him he knew how to keep his job decently well and cutting people off wasn't a good strategy. He'd sent the quarian off to get some rest and perhaps that was a good idea for himself too. However, he had some things to get sorted out first. He'd get his crew to dig for information on the assassin, on the foreman's accident, and basically anything else that might be useful moving forward for his investigation.

A few hours later he'd retire to his quarters on the upper deck. Sleep wasn't really calling to him but pacing on the bridge in his full gear wasn't the best way to pass the time. Stripping down to more casual wear, which was basically the equivalent of a pair of shorts, he cracked a bottle of ryncol and began sifting through the spectre database idly; intending to spend as much time as he could stomach doing his own research before boredom overtook him and he needed to shift focus. Kar thought he got bored back at C-sec but really this spectre shit was a lot worse most of the time. Better perks and more exciting and taxing work but the downtime was just nothing. Shame they wouldn't let him hire an asari hooker or something to help pass the time.

In any case he'd still be awake and in his room when Sera got up, though had long-since shifted to porn for some mild source of entertainment. Normally he would just go off and start exploring on his own without waiting but he felt that the girl had more she might be able to tell him before he began and some time to shake off the torture would help her collect her thoughts. Whether she searched him out immediately or decided to poke around the vessel more remained to be seen.
 
Sera stood up after a few hours to rest, and in that time, there was some information in the C-Sec files dug up about the assassin. He had apparently been quite well trained, and Sera had been quite lucky that he had been hired to use her to send a message rather than simply kill her right off the bat. The foreman's accident seemed to have been reported as just that, with the turian having fallen into a coolant vat and drowned. Against any sort of protocol, however, there had been no official autopsy to determine the cause of death beyond that, or to look for any signs of foul play despite the vat having mysteriously sealed itself after she had fallen in...or maybe was pushed.

Sera approached the captain's section of the ship, as the turian had told her earlier. She could explore the ship later, she knew. Right now, she had her head a bit more settled after everything that happened, and she wanted to discuss anything she could do to help. Assuming the Council was willing to sanction an investigation.

Outside of what Sera presumed was the Spectre's office, she knocked hesitantly. "Are you in there? I wanted to discuss what we should do now that you've got me on your ship, and have talked to the Council."
 
The elevator near engineering and medical offered a short ride up to the captain's quarters and she'd come face to face with a closed door and a panel to signal the occupant inside of her presence, though it blended in with the wall fairly well at a glance to allow Sera to miss it. The knocking drew no response thanks to the room being highly soundproofed but when she would find and activate the panel Kar noticed immediately. Setting down his datapad on the table without having the forethought to actually shut the display off, leaving it paused on a still of a human woman having her face mounted by a varren, Kar would rise and quickly move to the door.

The two halves would slide apart to reveal him standing in nothing but his shorts, revealing the thick, leathery skin that covered his arms, chest, and legs with a few bits of hardened gray carapace dotting key locations like the outsides of his forearms, his thighs, and his shins. She had seen him in his armor to know he was thick of build and plenty strong but seeing him without the covering was something different to be certain. His muscles weren't as well-defined as say a human's could be with krogans normally being more barrel-chested and bulky but, other than perhaps the hump on his back, there wasn't much sign of any fatty tissue. At the same time there remained a notable tenting in his shorts from his choice of recreational activity but he wasn't fully erect and thus it wasn't perhaps as intimidating as such a thing might be after her trauma. In any case the display wasn't intentional as his eyes widened a touch in surprise to see her there and not one of his crew.

"Didn't expect you here so early. Hasn't been that long. You half Salarian?" The comment regarding her lack of sleep aside he wasn't trying to keep her out nor was he concerned about her seeing him in such a state. Body shame was a foreign concept to most krogan outside of, perhaps, should they have a small hump. That said the scent of alcohol would still be on him considering how potent ryncol was, though he had been drinking casually so he wasn't wasted nor would the smell be overpowering. Kar would step away from the door to allow her entry into his quarters and with his frame no longer blocking the view Sera would be able to see just how comparatively large his room was for a ship this size.

To her right she'd see the front wall lined with downward sloping windows that looked out over the front half of the vessel. His actual bed was up against that with plenty of room not only for himself but for multiple people honestly. Kar had argued that he needed the extra space but really he had just wanted to option of bringing someone to bed with him, not that it had happened up to this point; not to say that he hadn't had his fun planetside in a few places since becoming a spectre. Before the bed was a farily open living space, a large table with a couch and a few chairs around it, and looking to her left would be a small workshop for handling his weapons and armor. At the very back of the room, and with some windows looking down into engineering with the ship's core, was his private communication terminal.

For the moment Kar just let her take in the space at her leisure, uncertain as to the meaning of her visit, but was attentive and listening to whatever she wanted to discuss. He figured there might be some problem, maybe her room wasn't loud enough or something, but the girl had just been through a lot so maybe she needed to not be alone right now. He wasn't exactly an expert in 'feelings' despite being more well-versed than most of his kind were by comparison.
 
Sera didn't even glance at the datapad that the Spectre had been looking at. Whether it was recreational or Spectre-related didn't matter all that much to her, but she respected his privacy in any case. She had no reason to not trust him, even given his current state of dress...or maybe it was closer to say his state of undress. Despite herself, she couldn't help but let her eyes linger a bit on the tent in his crotch. He probably didn't notice, given how opaque her visor was, and that was probably for the better.

"Not last time I checked," she responded to his question. "Just couldn't really rest more there than I'd be doing while talking up here." As she spoke, she stepped into the room, looking around at the rather large space. It seemed that the krogan Spectre could essentially live out of this room, with the bed, living space, recreational area...all he would need is someone to bring up food, if he was so inclined.

Sera spoke again as she looked around the room. "I wanted to thank you again for the rescue, for starters. It was rather well-timed, as I'm sure you noticed, and I don't think anyone but you would have gotten to me at all before the assassin was finished. More importantly, I remember you mentioning that you were uncertain if the Council would agree to an investigation. If they did, I have the coordinates of the factory that they purchased. It's a matter of public record, but it still would save a bit of time to not need to look it up."

Sera wandered over to the windows by the bed, looking down at the ship as she did so to try to calm her racing mind. As she did so, she leaned up against Kar's bed slightly, unintentionally drawing possible attention to her backside as she waited to hear a response to her comments.
 
"Noveria isn't exactly the safest place for someone to run foul of a corporation in." He replied in regards to the thank you she was offering. Not to say that some part of him didn't appreciate the sentiment but it wasn't much in his nature to get caught up on words compared to actions. Nodding as the talk shifted to the council he followed behind her to some extent, anchoring himself next to the table and folding his arms over his chest while she moved on to his bed and the window. With his mental state such as it was, slightly inebriated and aroused, it was impossible not to stare as she leaned over his bed to get a better look outside; asses most definitely being his favored part of the female anatomy and he could appreciate the females of other species plenty.

Trying to shake off the lewd thoughts running through his brain at least enough to hold this serious conversation he did a decent job of not pausing much before explaining. "The council was torn. They figure there isn't enough evidence to act but they offered to look the other way if I want to dig a little deeper. I'll see if I can find anything more but that's all I can do. Give it a few days, maybe a week. You'll be safe on board in the meantime. My crew is small but well-trained; would take a small army to get through them." He wasn't planning on sharing the details he had found out in the meantime about the assassin. After all, she was a civilian out of her depth so there was no need to worry her nor get her wrapped up in this business any more than she already was. A small investigation, he could report back to the council again, and take her back to council space for her own safety. Simple enough.
 
"Be that as it may, you still went out of your way to save me. Not too many others would. Unless you just happened to be on Noveria already, which I somehow doubt." She didn't seem to notice him staring, continuing to lean over the bed. "It is quite a nice ship..." she commented, almost to herself, showing no signs of moving, giving him all the time he wanted to stare at her without seeming to realize it, much less acknowledge it.

"That doesn't surprise me. The Council never seems not divided. I'm sure you'll be able to find more, but let me know if you need any help digging deeper. You have resources as a Spectre, I know, but I have my own methods, and they can be quite resourceful as well. Two people working at it has to be better than just one, right?" Her words indicated that even after her experience with the assassin, she didn't intend on just leaving the problem to the Spectre alone. She trusted him to a degree, but she just knew that there was more to this than just standard, or even worse than standard, corporate espionage. There was something bigger here, and if the Spectre tried to cut her out, or failed to investigate properly...well, she was already on the death notice of the company. Might as well go out fighting if she could.
 
"You just got stabbed, half-drowned, and almost raped. Not to mention whatever else he would have done to you before you died." Nobody said that Kar was the most delicate in terms of diplomacy and speaking his mind was still his preferred means of discussion. He wasn't trying to insult her but that didn't mean it couldn't come off that way all the same. "I'm not even sure you know how to use that pistol I told you to take from his corpse. An Eagle kicks like a beast."

He paused and exhaled sharply to focus his thoughts a little more before continuing to elaborate. "Look, I get why you'd care after what happened but you don't have to worry any more. I'll look into this as best I can and then we'll get you somewhere safe in council space." He didn't know her and certainly didn't believe she had what it took to deal with danger. Besides, he answered her distress call and rescued her. Why would he want to put her back into more danger? He wasn't a babysitter. While he wasn't against discussion of the investigation such as it was, feeling no reason to hide details from her, he couldn't comprehend a way in which she would be more beneficial to him out in the field at this point.
 
Sera straightened, turning to face him and crossing her arms across her torso, just under her breasts. "I am well aware of what I went to, thank you. I haven't mysteriously forgotten the worst thing that's ever happened to me in the scant hours since it happened. As for this pistol in particular? Maybe it does have more kick to it than I'm used to, but I'm not exactly in the squeaky clean category like those councilors you need to kiss up to. I may not be that strong, but I can handle a pistol. I've had to in the past."

"Let's say you investigate. You come across some files that are encrypted. Could be valuable information, but if you decrypt them wrong, you trip a kill switch that erases all of that data. Do you have the skills to find the kill switch and disable it? Do you even know what to look for to determine if there is a kill switch? And that's assuming you can even find the data. Companies don't tend to just leave it lying around. You have to dig for it. Besides, you yourself said I'm already somewhere 'safe in Council space'. This ship is about as safe as it can get, right? Drop me off on a planet, any planet, and you're just hoping that Belia Industries doesn't have a branch on that planet. Because if they do, one phone call from headquarters and I'm in danger again."

Sera took a deep breath again, trying to relax and calm down. "Sorry, I certainly don't mean to come across as unappreciative of what you've done and are doing for me. I just feel like you are underestimating both them and me. There's more to being able to help than fighting. I'm sure you are aware of that, or else you wouldn't have a crew, because krogan don't need much help on that front."
 
When she turned around Sera would be able to notice Kar's eyes flick upward towards her visor from the positioned they had been locked in down below, assuming she was able to focus enough past her grief and anger of course. He didn't break contact from her visor as she chastised him and tried to explain her skillset, to suggest that she wasn't as feeble as his words seemed to indicate. There was tension in his body, a slight ripple through his frame as anger bubbled up inside of him at the mention of kissing the assess of the council. She was getting to him when she remarked about him personally, though he didn't have much problem with her standing up for herself by comparison. Still, he held himself in check despite his instincts and let her rant play out until her energy faded and she shifted into a small apology.

The krogan paused as it came time for him to offer some words, thinking through everything and trying to decide what his best option was. The delay was likely agonizing to some extent for the nerves but he at least had the wherewithal to try and consider his actions before performing them in such cases. "You've got some guts insulting a krogan like that. Most of us would have headbutted you before you could finish that dig about the council." His voice, while always deep and commanding, remained fairly level and even in tone to indicate that he wasn't intending to hold that against her at this point. "Clan Ganar in particular has a history with anger and the striking of females." This was ancient history at this point really and not pertaining to him in particular but an interesting parallel in that Kar considered himself much like Wrang, the krogan who made the Blood Pack a force to be reckoned with in the first place, in that his temper could make him lash out and do things he might regret if he wasn't careful. In any case he would continue slowly and at a measured pace.

"I've been kicking ass for longer than you've been alive. Only recently starting actually taking names. I know my way around an omni-tool, how to reinforce my armor or overload systems, how to wiretap or cut into surveilance, how to get through encrpyted files. Wouldn't claim to be the best at it, I care more for action than espionage, but don't tell me I'm a stupid krogan that's acting like a fool when you don't know what I'm capable of. Most of my people simply lack the opportunity to learn anything other than fighting, not the intelligence."

Unfolding his arms from his chest, Kar bent down to grab the datapad resting on the table beside him. He grunted as this made him realize what was still on the screen, perhaps even giving Sera another chance to catch a glimpse in the process, but he closed out of that quickly and instead opened the information he had been able to pull regarding her assassin before he tossed the device at her in the expectation she would catch it. "Jul Elms. Some hot-shot assassin that mostly stuck to the Terminus Systems and the Traverse. Monomelecular blade, N-7 Eagle sidearm, infiltration suit with tactical cloaking and shields, actuators to boost strength, speed, and manueverability. He was a sadist who focused on jobs that let him torture and abuse his victims before death, but still a professional when it came to more clean killings without hardly a trace of his passing. Far from the best the galaxy has to offer but well above the rabble that most people would hire. I could have kicked his ass regardless in a proper fight but I doubt I could have kept your breathing if he had known I was coming. You leave this ship, even if it's with me, and the chances of another bastard like this showing up and taking you out before I can even react go way up. I'm a warrior, a battlemaster, a mercenary, a security officer,... not a bodyguard."
 
Sera tried to calm herself further as the krogan responded to her words. His comment on Clan Ganar didn't exactly give her pause, but she did find it interesting nonetheless that he felt the need to bring up his clan's history against women. "Krogan, human, turian. I didn't intend to insult you, just your profession. I don't need to have anyone tell me what I can or can't do. Anyone." She emphasized that last point, glancing at his datapad as he grabbed it. She didn't exactly know what he had been watching, but it didn't seem...work-related, to say the least.

"As for your hacking skills, I'm sure they aren't weak, and I am guessing you've had quite some time to work on them. I didn't mean to imply that you were stupid. No Spectre is. I just know what I can do, compared to other hackers. I've come across skilled hackers, and outhacked them. If I wanted to, I could probably crack your security in one or two minutes. That's not a dig at your security, mind you. I just know what I can do, and I've cracked Spectres before." She approached him calmly, nearly pressing against him as she continued to speak.

"And I didn't ask for you to be a bodyguard. This assassin sounds like he was tough. He was tougher than me, not tougher than you. And what makes you think, if they were to hire an assassin like that before, that they wouldn't simply do it again when you drop me off wherever you do? I can handle myself, true. And I am sure to be much more alert now that I know what I'm up against, but we can help each other. I don't understand why you are being so stubborn about working alone and just dropping me off like some deadweight girl. Is that really all you see me as? A liability? Because trust me, I can do much more than that."

As she took another breath, she closed her eyes briefly. "If you insist on simply dropping me off before your investigation, I just have one question. If you get there, and no one is willing to talk, what's your plan B to prevent an altercation?"
 
"You put out a distress call. I answered it. It seemed obvious you'd want to get away from here to somewhere safer. Criminals have a significantly harder time moving through council space and if you laid low I doubt this company would continue to come after you there. After all, I would be the one continuing to investigate them. If that's not what you are after then you can do what you want, I'm making sure you know the dangers." Since she hadn't much cared to look at the datapad after catching it he reached out to take it back, unfazed by the fact that she had walked close enough to practically hug him. Yeah, he saw her as dead weight. Whatever tech skills she might have wouldn't help if she was dead and, out in the field, he'd seen plenty of cocky people taken out by a well-placed sniper round or other dangers far more subtle. All he had witnessed of her actions thus far was being abused and overpowered and that didn't inspire confidence in her capabilities to suddenly be much better now that she knew people were hunting her. If she wanted him to respect her she'd have to earn that and acting like a whiny brat was not helping her case.

"I had planned on doing my investigation while you stayed on board. I'd drop you off after the fact, when I could report to the council and no doubt they'd want to keep things more... civil than just having me wreck shop. And, for note, I wasn't going to ask the company what they were doing; I was just going to take a little look for myself. You want to leave the ship and follow me that's your business but anything that might happen to you in the process is on your head, not mine." Kar would power off the datapad once he had it back from Sera and place it back down on the table. All but ignoring whatever she was trying to prove by stepping up to him, the krogan would turn around and slowly make his way over to his armory to begin the process of gearing up; a process that would necessitate the removal of his shorts in a few moments so that he could put on the undersuit for his armor. He didn't much care if she saw him naked but it also wasn't something he was doing for any sake of thrill and surely most people would understand what the process of putting on such a suit would entail. At least as far as he was concerned they would anyway.
 
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"That's a fair point. Noveria's practically Council space, but at the same time, that Spectre/Council/Noveria agreement is a bit shaky. They wouldn't raise a fuss over a civilian like Council planets would. As for laying low, that goes without saying. I'm not exactly looking to get hunted down. I just see it as inevitable at this point."

She couldn't help herself from watching the krogan suit up. There wasn't anything sexual about it, it was just a matter of fact thing, but she wasn't about to leave the room to give him some privacy. If she wanted to prove her point, that she wasn't just some helpless civilian, she had to start acting a lot more professional than she had been, she knew. She'd given off a bad first impression by getting captured and tortured, and she sensed that her words hadn't exactly persuaded him that she was anything more than a hacker in over her head.

"That is fair enough. I won't interfere with your investigation. I can't promise I won't do my own investigative work, but I won't get in the way of yours. We both want the same thing, answers. You want something to possibly report to the Council, I want to prove that I'm not just paranoid about this being a real threat." She was much calmer now that she had basically vented her frustrations over the situation. "I also understand that I'm not your problem, and you're not my bodyguard. You've already done enough for me on that front just by answering the distress call. Anything else that happens, as you said...I can't blame on anyone but myself." She activated her omnitool, sending the coordinates of the warehouse to Kar's datapad. "That's where the warehouse is once we get to the planet. What you'll find there is up for question, but I'd imagine that it would at least want to have a front of plausibility, so not much by the way of visibly armed guards, just workers, maybe a foreman or two."
 
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Once he got his bodysuit laid out and set on the workbench Kar peeled off his shorts and tossed them aside casually. From where Sera was standing she'd effectively be getting a side view of the naked krogan at this point, not enough to be completely clear on all the details from a distance but more than enough to see the massive, leathery sack that held his quad gonads and the half-erect shaft that jutted outward but was slowly softening downward by this point.

His member, although not fully erect to give an accurate measure, would certainly seem impressive in length and girth to match his bulky frame. It too was possessed with thick, leathery skin but, unlike the skin on the rest of his body that was finely scaled like a lizard, his genitalia was not detailed in such a fashion; instead just a solid gray in color with some pink splotching along the shaft. If she knew of them Sera might draw some similarities to the human creatures of elephant or rhinoceros, though that was about all the detail she'd get from this angle and this distance as he stepped into the suit and pulled it upward to conceal himself. Though, of note, the suit itself seemed to have a similar design to that of her would-be assassin's for ease of access to the groin on-demand.

Kar kept listening during this time and responding though as she calmed somewhat and agreed to his statements, moreso acknowledging that she was placing herself into further danger but not staying behind. "Honestly?" He glanced over for a moment before turning back to his work. "I just want something to do that isn't pointless busywork." Once he got the suit into place to cover his entire body, which likely looked a bit strange considering the krogan body type, he started pulling out the plates of his armor and slotting them on with practiced ease; starting with his feet and working his way up. "Don't much care about the council personally but I'm not going to fuck up my position on purpose. Going after a corporation isn't really my idea of a fun time but you try endlessly patrolling empty space with nothing to do and tell me you wouldn't get stir-crazy."

When he did get around to locking the armor in place around his left arm Kar activated the built-in omni tool and pulled the information that she had sent to the data pad so he could take a look. "Still in the nebula, shouldn't take long to get there. This doesn't say much though. Will have to plug this into navigation and see what planet it is on, what kind of environment to expect." It wouldn't take him much longer to finish up his other arm and get his upper torso section in place, covering his hump and including an integrated helmet that would only ever be active should there be no breathable atmosphere as far as he was concerned. From there he grabbed his heavy rifle that she'd seen before but also a hefty pistol that likely slipped her awareness earlier; A Carnifex was quite recognizable across the galaxy for being hard-hitting and reliable. "I'll go give these to the pilot." Referring to the coordinates she had given over. "Make sure you are ready by the time we get there. I'm not waiting for you."
 
As he undressed, Sera took advantage of her visor to look him over. She would have probably been intimidated by the size of his package, had she felt there was anything to worry about in terms of him coming onto her, or worse. Instead, she merely took notice of both his size and the fact that his suit seemed to be designed to expose it quickly. This was clearly a krogan who liked to be ready for just about anything at a moment's notice. She could respect that.

"I can understand wanting to avoid any busywork. That's one of the advantages of working completely freelance. I pick the jobs I want to do, and can take on any number I want with no boss to clear it up with. As for going after a corporation...well, you go after criminals all the time. These ones are just wearing suits instead of armor." She watched him fully armor up and get his weapons together. He certainly was prepared for anything to go awry. Unfortunately, Sera had nothing but the suit she was wearing, her absconded Eagle that would certainly take some getting used to, her omni-blade, and her knife, in terms of sheer combat. She did have other skills to make up for it if she wasn't caught off guard, but that was something to consider only when things got messy.

"I wouldn't expect you to wait for me. We have an understanding that we are on missions that may coincide with each other, but they are separate missions nonetheless." Her voice was calm, not criticizing the decision but merely noting it. "I'm already as ready as I can be." As she finished, she turned and left the room, heading to the main part of the ship to wait for the ship to arrive.

In the cockpit, the turian pilot was guiding the ship in a fairly relaxed manner. He was young, but knew his way around a cockpit, and had quite a bit of knowledge about various planets without needing to research them further. That made him a good fit, even good enough to overlook the flask of turian brandy he always kept on hand. When they had a destination, he was always quick to go where instructed, without any comments that weren't relevant to preparing for what might be waiting on the other side.
 
"That's on Amaranthine in the Fortuna cluster." Calius, the turian pilot, replied as Kar gave the coordinates over. "It's uninhabitable and extremely cold but holds a lot of heavy and light metals in its composition. Makes sense that a weapons company would want access to it. Should only take a few hours to reach. I'll let you know when we get close." Kar accepted the information without complaint. His suit was capable of functioning in hostile environments and in vacuum so it wouldn't be a problem for him though he turned to look at Sera for a moment to see if she'd have any issues there. Quarian suits should be capable of dealing with all of that but he'd seen parts of hers open already so he wondered how functional it truly was. Guess he'd find out soon enough.

For this period Kar would rest in his chair at the center of the room while Sera was more or less free to do whatever she wanted to. With a fair number of consoles unoccupied she had her pick of seating so to speak rather than needing to stand, though every station with a chair faced away from the captain's seat. However she chose to pass the time there was no mistaking when the vessel came out of the relay and began final approach, further reinforced by the pilot stating as such. This is the point in which Sera might be surprised at what this ship was actually capable of. "Engage the I.E.S., we will rely on the Tantalus for the final approach. As much as I hate sneaking, we aren't supposed to be here. Flying in openly would be stupid. You'll drop us a safe distance from the facility and we will go in on foot." At this point Kar would stand from his seat and get moving towards the lower deck; the cargo ramp was at the back. "Yes captain. The terrain is jagged and mountainous, very difficult to traverse, but I'm sure I can find something."

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Down on in the cargo hold Calius would come in again over coms. "The structure is in some relatively flat space. I'm going to drop you somewhat far away so they don't see the ship but you should have a clean approach with enough cover to conceal you." The hard inertia from the tight maneuvers so close to ground tugged at the krogan's insides but he managed to only barely shift in his balance despite this before the ramp opened to reveal the surrounding landscape.

The land was barren and dark but still possessed of enough light to see without requiring illumination. With no life on the planet the soil was a deep tan, colored almost like sand but much more solid and packed. Rock formations were everywhere to back up the pilot's claims and would reflect in deep hues of blue and purple when the limited light would hit more cleanly, revealing just how much metal was a part of this planet.

As he hurried down the ramp and onto the planet Kar could see what Calius meant regarding the approach; there was a winding sort of trench that led out to a flatter area where the structure was visible in the distance. While the path they'd need to walk was still difficult it didn't project high enough to be impassable, though sticking within the confines of the trench would be the best bet for making it there undetected.

With the Pa'vex peeling off from the planet surface as soon as they were both clear the eerie silence was broken only by their footsteps and a gentle but somewhat whistling wind. "We got a long walk ahead but I doubt it will be peaceful if Belia is up to the shady shit you believe they are." He didn't think the walk would be that long but, considering the uneven terrain and winding path, it'd likely be longer than it seemed at a glance.
 
Sera sat down in one of the available chairs, relaxing for the time until they began the final approach to Amarathine. The weather didn't bother her as much to think about compared to anything else that might be waiting for them. Her suit had heating and cooling functions that would work just fine to keep her from getting too cold. Maybe a bit chilly, but nothing harmful. The terrain concerned her slightly, however. Cover was going to be good for her and Kar, but that same cover would benefit the enemy as well, and they had home field advantage.

At the thought of going in on foot, Sera nodded slightly to herself in approval. Made sense. Go in quietly if possible. No one would react well if a spaceship landed right in their backyard. As such, she followed him down to the cargo hold, the tight maneuvers having more of an effect on Sera as she held onto the wall to keep her balance. That didn't stop her from being only a few seconds behind Kar down the ramp, however.

"I don't mind a bit of a walk," she commented. "As for how peaceful the walk is...they might not have many if any security out this far if they want to play things quiet, but we'll just have to see as we make our approach." She kept herself calm as she spoke, slowly making her way through the terrain towards the coordinates, slipping into the trench as soon as she was able to do so. As she moved, her hand stayed close to her pistol, ready to draw it at a moment's notice, but not actively gripping it just in case she met someone willing to talk without violence on the other side.

It didn't take too long to reach the perimeter of the warehouse. There were a few guards left posted around the warehouse's exterior, but none of them were highly trained, likely just some cheap labor flown in from other planets with the promise of fair pay. Only one of them, a sniper on the roof of the warehouse, seemed above average, the slender figure keeping an eye on the front with a scope, but not appearing too eager to start shooting at a moment's notice.

Once as close to the warehouse as Sera dared to get, she waited for Kar to approach before climbing out of the trench, activating a cloaking device on her omni-tool before slowly approaching the warehouse, leaving Kar to find his own way inside.
 
Kar was focusing on what security he could see as they neared the end of the trench and had to figure a way forward. Sera activating a cloak and heading out on her own was a bit surprising but it didn't change his focus for long. While he'd like to just crack some heads and bust in there, if not guns blazing then at least knocking the guards out with some hard punches, but that was unfortunately not an option right now. The good news was that they all appeared human as far as he could tell from their armor, which made sense given where they were at, and the lights on their helmets told him that they weren't equipped well enough to have good optics in their helmets to help see in the dim light. Beyond that the guards weren't on high alert and there weren't very many of them; really he only had to worry about the sniper on the rooftop but even they seemed complacent.

The key weakness he felt he isolated was their focus on the front door. Sure the lackeys did some minor patrolling around the sides but their rotations were sloppy and they didn't overlap their lines of sight much, meaning he could likely find an opening to get by if he waited long enough. Kar was somewhat impatient though and didn't want to wait that long, instead he figured a small distraction would be best. With his omni-tool he targeted one of the guards as they rounded the side of the warehouse and moved towards the front. It was a simple hack, and one that could easily be overlooked as a common malfunction in most cases, but Kar brute-forced the unimportant suit systems the individual might have such as the head lamp, external speaker, maybe even a music player.

The goal was to draw the attention of all the other security forces so that they'd shift their attention to the front and the guard in question having the annoying issues. When no one was looking along the sides he'd carefully hustle towards a rear door, not knowing where it would put him inside the building but trusting that anywhere inside would be something to consider progress. Thankfully he had been smart enough to not reinforce his armor yet with holographic layers so he was not a beacon of light in the darkness from that and the distance he needed to cover wasn't very far. He felt confident about this as he put the plan into motion and a blaring sort of techno music started playing from the guard's helmet with very poor audio quality.
 
The guard at the front door reacted almost exactly as he had expected, almost visibly flinching when the techno music started playing. Moving away from the door, he began to work on the speakers of his helmet, trying to at least disable them if not actually stop the low quality music, a couple of the other guards coming over to try to help him as well, as much for their own sanity as anything else, which left the door on the east side of the warehouse exposed and easy even for a krogan the size of Kar to slip in without being noticed.

This left him in what seemed to be, by all appearances, a standard weapons factory, but one that didn't seem to be active at the moment, the lights dim but not fully deactivated. The machinery was still in place, but hadn't seen use in some time, considering the amount of dust on their controls. While there were a few apparent workers scattered through the floor, they didn't seem to do much other than wander around set routes, as if they were guarding something that couldn't quite be noticed by a simple glance.


On her side of the factory, Sera slipped in through a window, just before her cloaking was drained. It would recharge over time, but for now, she simply stuck to the shadows, heading towards a terminal in an adjoining room. Making sure no one was around, she connected her omnitool to the terminal and began working. Time to see what I can find.

It didn't take long for her to find something, and she knew exactly what to do with what she found. With a few commands from her omnitool, she made her way through the shadows again towards the main area of the warehouse, where Kar was. As she did so, one of the patrolling workers was startled by a keypad exposing itself on a wall near what had once been an office of some sort. Clearly, there was more to this factory than first appeared.
 
The appearance of this place screamed to his instincts that it was all wrong. If the place was shut down then a token security force outside would still make some sense but people inside the place? Not to mention their movements were unnatural and forced, no doubt set patterns for people who were supposed to be doing something productive instead. The interior of the factory still had environmental controls active so he didn't have to rely on the air from his suit but Kar kept his helmet up; It was a good idea to keep recording everything he saw as evidence for later.

The krogan crept slowly through what dark areas he could find but his pace was terribly slow without much direction to be found. Thankfully, as if on-cue, one of the nearby workers made a small noise of surprise that initially made Kar assume he had been found out but rather was reacting to some kind of keypad opening up on an otherwise mundane wall section. It looked promising all the same and, after taking a quick glance to see that none of the others were alerted yet nor in sight, he stepped out around the corner and smacked the worker on the back of his head with his right forearm. Kar was careful to hold back from his full strength but no doubt the impact would hurt as the man crumpled to the floor unconscious.

While he bent down to drag the worker into a placement that was more out of the way he noticed Sera approaching, moreso just the faint motion that caused him to look twice before he could make out enough detail to feel confident it was her. He shifted his head in a sideways gesture towards the keypad and shrugged, not wanting to risk verbal communication, and figured he'd give her a shot at getting through it. She was probably the reason it opened in the first place after all and he never had doubted her tech skills in the first place.
 
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