[ME-Privateer] In The Black (Ursus Peregrinus & Atroxa)

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

It was a fairly quiet evening in The Black. The place was a sleazy little dive that catered to spacers, merchants and smugglers but aside from the odd rowdy drunk it wasn't a place that saw much action. People came to The Black for a quiet corner to do some business or to get themselves well and truly drunk where no one would roll them. The only thing going tonight was a group of spacers playing some Terran card game. A burly Krogan with gold engraving on his crest was riffling the cards and chattering as he had been all evening.
"Alright, the small blind's ten cred, the big blind is twenty." The half dozen players were checking their cards as they made their bets. A Volus was standing on his chair and leaning forward watching as he puzzled out the arcane rules.

At the bar, Tahlyn was rolling his eyes. Bronn was about the most human Krogan he'd ever met. The lizard had spent so much time around aliens that he didn't seem Krogan half the time. Sipping his drink, Tahlyn looked around, waiting for the contact he'd been sent to meet. Some Batarian by the name of Cheff or something like that.

Bronn let the rest of the players finish betting and dealt the flop, his broad face breaking into a smile.
"I'll raise twenty five," he said as the betting came back to him. The Volus met his bet and he flipped over his cards. "Two pair, Jacks over fives."
"Very good, Tuchanka-clan, but I have three sevens." The Volus collected the credit chips with a burbling chuckle. Bronn banged his hand on the table and shook his head.
"You sneaky little globe. You had pocket sevens that whole time?" His brow ridge drew down and he shook his head. "Teach me to play with someone in a pressure suit. I'm gonna need another Ryncol here."

As his partner shuffled the cards for another deal, Tahlyn turned and saw a Batarian enter the bar, quickly followed by a pair of Salarians accompanied by a trio of Vorcha. The Batarian came over to the bar and leaned forward.
"A Bloody Mary," he told the bartender, "make it a double." Tahlyn's ears perked up, that was how he was supposed to recognize his contact.
"I'll have what he's having," the Turian grunted, finishing his drink and slapping some cred down on the bubbled plastic "and I'll get the bill."

So busy was he sniffing the dubious concoction the bartender handed him that he didn't really notice as the three Vorcha began fanning out through the bar. Not until one of them brushed against him and he spun. The Vorcha spun as well, and the two of them glared at one another for a long moment before the barbaric vermin backed down. Sniffing, Tahlyn watched him go, glaring after the creature. If that Vorcha tried that nonsense with Bronn he'd be picking fangs out of his trachea.

"You have my payment?" The Batarian had an odd sibilance to his voice, and as he cleared his throat Tahlyn noticed the thick pucker of scar tissue that ran in a crescent around his throat. It looked like someone had tried to carve his head off and then gotten bored halfway.
"You have the package?" Tahlyn replied, one hand slipping into his pocket. His right hand fell to the Elkoss Shuriken holstered at his side.

Before the Batarian could reply, there was a commotion.
"Here! She is here!" One of the Vorcha crooned, and the two Salarians produced bulky pistols and advanced.
"Artemis Chase, your debts are past due. Do you have the credits to pay them?" The first Salarian asked, and the Vorcha were converging on the redheaded human. The second hefted his Carnifex and smiled a froggy smile. All sound in the bar grew quiet as people edged away from the human woman. No one wanted trouble, least of all Tahlyn Varro. Not when he was about to swap a credit chip for some very valuable cargo.

So of course that was when Kurrlok Bronn's deep, gravelly voice cut the silence like the beginning of a landslide.
"You boys mind keeping your pets outside? I'm trying to play poker here, and the smell wafting off your Vorcha is breaking my concentration." Oh hell, Tahlyn groaned, and slapped the credchip down on the bar, sliding it in front of the goggle-eyed Batarian.

"This is no business of yours, Krogan. Sit down and play your silly game, but our guards stay here." The second Salarian snapped back. "Who is a Krogan to complain about smell? Your entire species stinks of failure and defeat."

The silence spread out like a pool of hydraulic fluid, thick and dark and ready to catch fire. Then Bronn's chuckle rumbled.
"You know, you remind me of another Salarian I used to know. Called him Froggy. Nice guy... not too bright, but a nice guy." The chuckle cut off and Bronn pushed back his chair, standing up. "Came to a bad end, though. Remind me to tell you the story sometime."

And the Krogan's hand came up, flinging his chair across the bar and laying out both the Salarians, as well as the drunken Turian they bounced off of.

That was when the fighting started.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

The side of Artemis' mouth pulled to the side, her lips then pursing, and then puckering, before the opposite side was pulled over in the other direction. She did this slowly, over and over. This was Artemis' thinking face. It was the same thing as her poker face really, since she did this whether her hand was good or bad. Right now, it was pretty bad, not the worst she'd ever had, but nothing to go crowing to the sun about. Her green eyes glanced over her cards as the Krogan spoke, a brow quirking slightly before dealing in her own bet, making it a moderate one. Bet too low and she'd give away her less than stellar hand, but she didn't have the balls to bet big right now.

So she played conservatively, keeping her nose clean, watching everyone else and what they were doing and how they were acting. Poker might be new to these guys but it wasn't to her, however, that didn't mean she was that great at it either. Artemis was a decent player, but she didn't win often enough to really have a lot of confidence in winning. This was probably a bad idea really, but she was good at those. She sometimes thought she was incapable of telling her brain 'no' when it came up with something for her to do. What did her mother call... impulsive. It made her life interesting at least, she could never say she stayed bored for long, but it was a bother at times as well.

Artemis leaned back in her chair, slouching a little, her hands holding her cards. She smirked a little when the Volus played his hand. It was a little unfair playing with a Quarian or a Volus, you couldn't see their damn faces. She gladly handed over her cards for another deal and this time, she got a much better hand. She didn't show it thought, her mouth continuing to work in that odd sort of thinking ritual she had.

She was too wrapped up in the game to notice the arrival of the Salarians and their little Vorcha cronies, having slouched down in her seat a bit and staring at her cards. So she jerked a bit when some one spoke from near by, looking up to see the ugly mug of a Vorcha grinning at her with those needle-like teeth. Artemis sat up in her chair, and then stood when she saw the Salarians. “Shit.” She bit out, tossing her cards on the table and turning to face the Salarians. She had her pistol strapped to her thigh, but she didn't dare draw it right now.

Her brows rose when they mentioned her debts, and inquired as to whether she was able to pay them. “Sorry fellas, this little wheezy bastard has been cleaning me out,” She said, gesturing towards the Volus. She seemed rather unworried, almost nonchalant, but she was watching those Vorcha like a hawk, and the Salarians weren't being spared close attention either.

From behind her she heard the unmistakably deep baritone of a Krogan's voice, assuming it was the same one that had been in on the card game, not able to help the smirk on her face at his words. She winced mentally though at the Salarian's retort. Not a good thing to say to a Krogan. She started inching sideways, trying to get out of the way, causing one of the Vorcha to hiss and snarl at her, “You stay.” He growled.

So she just ducked when the chair went flying by, taking advantage of the commotion to slam a fist into the gut of the one Vorcha, grabbing him and shoving him hard into his friend, sending them both tumbling into the fray. After that, things got a bit crazy, it seemed like the entire bar just came to life, nobody but a few could possibly know why they were fighting, but it didn't really seem to matter.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

As the brawl started, Tahlyn grabbed his nervous looking contact by the arm.
"You've got the cred, give me the disc!" His voice was pitched low and menacing, hoping to intimidate Cheff or whatever his name was into compliance.

It worked, as he fumbled a disc out of a pocket on his sleeve and then pulled away, almost forgetting his money in his hurry to get out of the bar.

Meanwhile, the Krogan was humming a jaunty little tune while he walked around the table. Two of the Vorcha were stumbling back from that human girl and he grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and banged them together until they stopped fighting.

Around him the quiet calm was disintegrating into chaos. The Volus was hiding beneath the table, counting his winnings while around him members of almost every species were throwing punches and furniture. Tahlyn saw Bronn stumble as he was hit in the back with a bar stool and shook his head. That was an unfortunate mistake for the human in question.

While the Krogan picked up an unruly human spacer and swung him around like a club, Tahlyn moved through the crowd towards the woman who had been the focus of all this attention. Blocking blows and slipping punches on the way, he arrived just as one of the Salarians was raising his pistol and aiming at Bronn.
"Play fair," Was the Turian's only comment as the two slender aliens glowed azure and rose off the ground. "Bronn, enough local colour. Time to go."

Leaning down, the Turian flung the two Salarians across the bar and into the racks of bottles behind it with a crash.
"I think it's time for you to leave, miss. Before someone starts shooting and things get out of hand." His fingers were strong on her bicep as he hauled Artemis to her feet and nodded to the doorway. "Bronn! Party favours!"

No sooner had Tahlyn said the words than Bronn's hand dipped to his toolbelt and came up with a couple of thick cylinders. Fusing them, he bulled his way through the press of bodies and flipped them back over the crowd. One landed on the bar and rolled onto the other side, the other bounced down near two of the semi-conscious Vorcha.

The grenades detonated with a 'whumph' sound, billows of pale blue foam erupting out of them and then hardening in seconds as the nano crystallized. The riot-control grenades engulfed a dozen patrons in the thick, unyielding mass and then froze them in place like some bizarre statue.

Still holding the human's shoulder, Tahlyn chuckled and pushed her towards the door. His other hand was on his pistol, and those violet eyes glittered intently as he searched the corridor outside for threats.

The Krogan joined them a moment later, towing the last of the Vorcha by one leg. His broad, reptilian face was set in a gleeful grin as he systematically broke its limbs one by one and then kicked it down a staircase. Dusting his large hands he wandered over and regarded his captain and the human.
"What is the world coming to, when Salarian loan sharks hire Vorcha muscle? Ugh." His face screwed up as though tasting something he didn't like. "Who's the lady, Captain?" Tahlyn released Artemis and shrugged, checking the pocket that held the Batarian's OSD.
"Other than trouble? We haven't been introduced." Tahlyn cocked his head to one side, hands disappearing into the pockets of his jacket. "Tahlyn Varro, at your service. The walking calamity is Kurrlok Bronn. If *I* were you, I'd find somewhere quiet to lay low. That foam only lasts about ten minutes." The Turian gave a little bow, then turned and walked away.

"Twelve minutes forty three seconds, I've been playing around with the formula." The Krogan put in, looking fussy. Dropping his voice to a murmur, the big fellow continued in a conspiratorial tone. "Come on, if you need somewhere to hide our ship's as good a place as any. Besides, we didn't get to finish our game." Offering his arm, the Krogan grinned and gave her a wink.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis saw the Krogan grab the two Vorcha she'd gotten away from her, but didn't really have time to watch him pummel them as some one knocked into her and she found herself in the middle of a small brawl between what looked like two Batarians and a Turian. Thankfully she rather hated Batarians she she happily kicked one hard in the back of his knee, knocking him down enough for her to follow up with a kick to his four-eyed face. His friend though retaliated by clocking her good in the face before the Turian tackled him and they disappeared into the main part of the brawl. She could feel that her lip was busted, a trickle of blood already running down her chin, but she ignored it. A busted lip wasn't anything she couldn't handle.

Some one threw a chair and Artemis hit the ground, which made it collide with some Salarian, she looked up to see one of the Salarian brothers, she thought it was Veno, pointing his pistol at the Krogan and was about to shout to get his attention when both the Salarians started glowing and were lifted off their feet. Artemis looked around blinking, trying to see who was the biotic that was getting them out of the way, spotting a Turian near by, his hand aglow.

Her eyes followed the Salarians as they were flung across the bar, landing with a very satisfying crash, and then the Turian was talking to her and pulling her up, saying it was time to go. “Uh...” Was about all she could manage. Then the brawl seemed to freeze in mid chaos as the crowd control grenades detonated, enveloping everyone in blue foam and the Turian was pushing her towards the door and out of the Black.

Artemis blinked when they were out in the corridor, looking around as the Turian did, and then felt something tickling her chin. She wiped at it, looking at the back of her hand and seeing blood. Oh yeah, she'd almost forgotten about her lip.

The Krogan joined them, looking very pleased with himself as he dispatched a Vorcha. Artemis was still feeling a little lost, not exactly sure why she was out here, and only managed a weak, slightly confused smile at his quip about Salarian loan sharks. She nodded a bit as the two were introduced, deciding it was probably a good idea to introduce herself as well, “Artemis,” She told them, “Artemis Chase.”

She laughed though when Bronn offered her arm, giving him a bit of a grin as she looped her arm through his, “Alright,” she shrugged. Well she wasn't entirely sure what in the world had just happened but Artemis had never been one to shy away from an interesting opportunity. People told her she should really think about developing a stronger sense of reserve, but she really didn't see the point. So she walked off with Bronn after Tahlyn, glancing between the two, “Hey so, not to look a gift horse in the mouth here but uh... why are you helping me? You don't even know me.” Artemis wasn't so cynical as to think something was up, though she knew it was a distinct possibility, but people didn't just go around helping others, especially on Omega.

Her green eyes looked at Bronn, since he was the one that had started the fight in the first place, and now had offered her a place to hide, but she glanced at Tahlyn as well, since he seemed to be the leader of the two.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

The Krogan ran a hand over his crest, the golden pattern engraved right into his plates gleaming in the dim lighting.
"Well, I know you bluffed your way to an inside straight forty minutes ago." He said with a shrug. "But mostly I know I hate Vorcha and I don't much like loan sharks either. So, well... you're welcome? It's nice when things work out, isn't it?" His smile was a little feral, but pretty good natured.

"Oh, don't mind Tahlyn. He was just pulling you out because he hates loan sharks even more than I do. Fun thing about being a shipsteader: they're just holes in space you throw money down. True fact." The Krogan was fairly cheerful as he chattered, but every now and then he would pause and check over his shoulder or glance down at his omnitool. "So, miss Chase, what do you do when you're not causing bar brawls?"

Their path led them to Hangar Bay 27, where an old looking Turian freighter was hitting in its docking clamps. The only thing on it that looked new were the Salarian built point defense blisters that bubbled the otherwise angular hull. Tahlyn looked back at the two of them and shook his head.
"Collecting strays again, Bronn?" The words had a bit of a bite to them, but he didn't argue further. Bronn just laughed.
"Come on, Captain, she gave me an excuse to bust up some Vorcha. That's got to be worth something." Leading her in, Bronn stomped away towards one of the three cargo bays. "You hungry? I'm hungry."

Kurrlok Bronn's exit left Chase alone with her host and Varro just sealed the hatch and shrugged.
"You're welcome to stay, since Bronn's feeling friendly. At least until you figure it's safe to walk around downside again without getting jumped by those two Salarians." He leaned against a bulkhead and gave her a look. "Welcome aboard the Harlot's Virtue... try not to touch anything. She's temperamental."

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis gave a shrug at his reasons, which really weren't reasons much at all, so she supposed that translated to 'because I felt like it'. That was good enough for her. “Yeah, it is,” She grinned, not put off by his grin. Artemis had been around enough aliens in her life that she was fairly good at reading their expressions. Except Batarians, but she just hated them.

“Well,” Artemis sighed at the talk of loan sharks, “I really should have known better than to take that loan. But I needed the money, unfortunately for me those sneaky bastards snuck some serious fine print in there about interest rates and math things like that and now I'm in the hole with them.” She shrugged, “I'm not a lawyer or an accountant.” And she couldn't afford either one. Sometimes she missed the steady pay checks from the Alliance, but she supposed it was all a system of checks and balances, your freedom for solid pay.

She laughed a bit at his question, “I'm a pilot, but with how things are going lately I do more fighting than flying.” She'd had spotty employment since she left the Alliance, and was now effectively stranded on Omega. Seemed like just about everyone found some sort of issue with her, either she was too young, too human, not experienced enough, too experienced (she had no idea how one could be too experienced, she supposed they thought she'd expect a high level of pay), or some other stupid reason not to hire her. She was a damn good pilot, one of the best fighters from her graduating class in flight school, but that didn't mean diddly out here apparently. She'd gone in on that loan so she could have money to eat, thinking she'd have work soon enough to pay them back, but so far it just hadn't worked out that way.

Artemis walked with them to the Hangar, her eyes running over the Turian freighter curiously. It was old and a bit beaten up, but it had character. She liked character. She looked at Tahlyn as he spoke though, giving the Turian a bit of a glare, but it wasn't an overly serious one, more of slightly annoyed look. If he hadn't just helped her out of a jam she'd maybe make an issue of being referred to as a stray, but she wasn't about to start something over it, and she supposed, when thought about it, that she really was a stray.

“Starving,” Artemis laughed in answer to Bronn's question, but she was always hungry. Her family had affectionately called her the 'bottomless pit' while she was growing up, along with constant lamenting by her mother that her daughter could eat so much and still stay so slim. She didn't really follow though, looking at Tahlyn as he gave her a far less friendly greeting than his comrade. But she looked around the ship as he mentioned her, putting her hands on her hips. “She's a good piece of machinery,” Artemis nodded, “And all the best girls in the galaxy have a little attitude to them.” She added that when she looked back to the Turian, giving a small wink and a grin.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

Bronn chuckled at her comment about loan sharks.
"Always got to watch anyone who drives a console for a living." Bronn said. "I could tell you stories about some of the shifty bastards I've worked with. They make those Salarians look honest. I was on deployment once to a moon that didn't actually exist. Total scam. A whole platoon of Blue Suns under an NDA so strict I still shouldn't talk about it, deployed in a freighter and flying around for months to help back up some Volus' ponzi scheme." The Krogan wrinkled his brow as she announced her occupation, but he kept quiet about whatever was in his thoughts.

As he withdrew, the sound of pots and pans clattering and the unmistakeable whine of capacitors charging. Tahlyn looked down the short corridor to the cargo bays with a mix of curiosity and trepidation. The human's complimentary attitude towards his ship managed to appease him somewhat though.
"Care to take a look around the command deck?" Tahlyn asked. "That big lizard's going to be a while, if he's perpetrating dinner." From down the corridor came a faint, disgusted snort.
"Perpetrating!? Just because you lack a sophisticated palate doesn't mean that truly refined sophonts don't enjoy my cooking." Tahlyn rolled his eyes at the indignant tone floating up the hall towards them. "Besides, your vision came back."

Tahlyn sighed and walked up the short flight of steps to the cockpit. It was cramped, like the rest of the small vessel, but well laid out in the Turian style. The control panel, though, had been ripped out and replaced with one from a human frigate. The displays were familiar, really just scaled up fighter systems, and the control sticks were obviously ill suited to a Turian's hands. Still, it was a much more complete layout than one usually found on a little tramp freighter... and if those readouts were actually hooked up the Harlot's Virtue had some hidden capabilities beyond those extra point defense lasers.
"She's a vengeful bitch with a relentless appetite for my money," the Turian grinned as he said it. "I should have gotten pair-bonded. At least then I'd have the satisfaction of knowing that I could make my beloved just as miserable as I am."

"She's slow, she wallows like a Thrusk hip deep in mud, her control surfaces were kludged together by a Salarian madman on a bet and she handles like a drunken Krogan in rut.." from the bowels of the ship came a faint cry of 'I heard that!' and the Turian smirked, "but she's mine. No loans, no liens, I own her right down to the rust and the substandard life support system." Patting the bulkhead affectionately, Tahlyn sat down at the navigator's console and gestured for her to take the pilot's couch. "Care to give it a try? You're a pilot, right? Fire up the diagnostics, let me know what you think."

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis couldn't help but laugh a bit at the banter between the two of them, her brows lifting, “His cooking can't be any worse than my mom's. I acquired a taste for burnt food at an early age.” She grinned. They'd eaten out a lot and ordered a lot of take out and eaten a lot of ready made meals. Needless to say, Artemis had learned to eat what was in front of her so she wasn't a very picky eater. She wouldn't have made it to puberty if she had been.

But she nodded at his question, gesturing ahead of them, “Lead the way,” she told him, following him up the steps to the cockpit. This was far from cramped for Artemis, she was used to single person craft, where you only just barely had room to turn your head, and not much else. Artemis looked around curiously, peering at the control panel, surprised to see that it was of Human design, not Turian.

She laughed a little at Varron's bit of an introduction to the ship. She liked him if only for how much he seemed to love his ship. There was no way some one could love their ship and be a completely bad person.

Artemis gave him a slightly surprised look though as he invited her to take a seat and check out the Harlot's Virtue. “Yeah? You don't mind?” She asked, it was obviously a rhetorical question since she sat down without waiting for his answer. The controls were familiar and her fingers flipped switches and punched buttons in a flurry of natural movement, her green eyes switching around the various screens. “I miss my fighter,” She told the Turian, “I named her Pegasus, real clever.” She laughed a bit, then realized he might not get the reference, not being a Human, of a flying craft named Pegasus and her own name being from Greek mythology.

“She was a Trident F-60, beautiful piece of machinery, if I could have bought her from the Alliance I would have in a heart beat,” Even if she'd had all the money in the world she would have had a hard time getting her since most fighters were restricted from civilian ownership.

Artemis glanced over her shoulder at Tahlyn, smirking at him, “Not bad,” she looked back to the console. “She's got some kick to her, far from top of the line, but she's got spirit,” Artemis patted the console fondly, leaning back in the chair and holding back a sigh. Felt good to sit in a pilot's chair again, but she tried not to get attached and switched everything off. “I'm, uh, gonna get some ice on my lip,” she told him, “Starting to hurt a bit. Thanks for letting me take a look at her.” Artemis got up and walked past him back down into the hall and to the room she'd seen Bronn disappear into, assuming it was the kitchen.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

The Turian rubbed his frills and chuckled in spite of himself.
"I wouldn't say his cooking is bad, exactly." Tahlyn admitted. "But Bronn has an experimental attitude to ingredients. You know that little voice that says things like 'do not attempt to eat an entire thresher maw' or 'Volus are not edible'? Bronn doesn't have that voice." Tahlyn looked around the cockpit and touched a couple of controls, firing up the computer systems that were usually locked down in port.

He watched, a little possessively, as Artemis began to warm up the control surfaces and check the displays.
"The Trident's are a good little ship, no surprise they don't want them in private hands... and they're not much use for long trips anyways. Do me a favour and be careful mentioning wanting one around my engineer? He might just take you at your word and give you a list of names."

Running his hand over the console as she powered it back down, Tahlyn nodded.
"The engine and maneuvering systems are stock, but tuned a little better than standard. The defensive systems are... better. So are the sensors and EW systems. We don't talk about where we got those, but Bronn knows some interesting people." Those violet eyes twinkled and Tahlyn nodded as she slipped from the pilot's couch and headed for the cargo bay. The Turian seemed lost in thought.

The cargo bay was not rigged up as a kitchen. Not really. It seemed to have been rebuilt into a combination of living quarters, workshop and recreation area. One wall was hung with racks of weapons, shelves and bins filled with parts and a very sophisticated looking toolbench and diagnostic array. A bulky Salarian nanolathe sat in one corner, and probably cost more than the black market consoles up in the cockpit.

The other walls were covered in posters and several large paintings of landscapes. One was definitely Tuchanka, a large mural of broken city and barren hills, but the others were smaller and from three or four different worlds. The postered were a mix of movies, music and weapons advertisements, a good many of them Elanus Risk Control products.

Crates and cargo modules provided most of the furniture, though there was a hammock slung in one corner and a couple of krogan-sized chairs by the workbench. The far corner was where Bronn was currently, chopping vegetables with a large knife while humming to himself beside what looked like a homemade stovetop. A frying pan beside him was sizzling and the smells of sauteeing onions and alien spices were filling the air.
"Hey," Bronn noticed her entering his domain without even looking up. "Don't mind the mess. Oh, and if anything's blinking, don't touch it. I put a shaped charge down somewhere a few days ago and haven't seen it since." He waved at her absent-mindedly with the big ceramic blade, then went back to chopping. "Omelets okay? It was that or smoked Nathak ribs, and those are kind of an acquired taste."

The Krogan finally turned and looked at her, setting down the cleaver and opening a cargo module that apparently was doing duty as a refrigerator or cooler.
"Varro not giving you trouble, is he? He's not the friendliest Turian you'll ever meet, but he's good in a scrape. Just takes him a while to relax after a brawl." Bronn chuckled and pulled out a bottle of vodka, poured them both tumblers and plopped in a couple of ice cubes. "Here, painkiller for you."

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis looked around the cargo bay turned living area as she walked towards the Krogan in the far corner, looking very odd. She didn't think she'd even actually seen a Krogan cook, it was definitely strange to see one chopping vegetables. She sniffed the air though, her brows lifting curiously and her stomach gave a soft rumble. She might have grown up eating sub par food and continued the habit through her military career with a diet of MRE's and mess hall slop, and now on her own when she was so poor she mostly ate food from stall venders and instant noodles, but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy decent food when she came across it.

“Good to know,” she muttered, looking around carefully before sitting on a nearby stack of crates, looking back to him when he asked if omelets were okay, “Yeah, sounds great.” She couldn't remember the last time she'd had an omelet. Those didn't exactly come ready made so she'd never eaten them much growing up. Breakfast had mostly consisted of cereal or pop tarts, thinks like that.

She shrugged though as he spoke of Varro, “Nah, he was fine, even let me fire the old girl up and take a look at her diagnostics. She's a good ship.” Artemis glanced around the cargo hold before looking back to Bronn as he pulled out some Vodka and poured them both some, she laughed a little, taking hers happily. “Like the way you think,” she waggled her eye brows a bit before taking a small drink, the corners of her eyes crinkling a little at the burning sensation down her throat. Artemis was a picky drinker and generally, vodka was low on the list, but she wasn't going to be rude, and it would definitely help numb her face a bit.

Artemis pressed the cold glass to her lip, looking around. “So what is it exactly that you two do?”

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

Bronn handed her the drink and turned back to his stovetop. Picking up some very large, very turquoise eggs he cracked two and started to whisk them. After a moment, he poured in about half of his vodka and kept whisking.
"The Harlot's a grand old girl. You should have seen the scow Warmaster Grenph was running when he recruited me into the Wrath's Eye. That thing was held together with rust and omnigel, but the Harlot? She's got character." He added vegetables to the egg and poured it into the pan, then began adding the onions and some dark slivers of meat.

"What do we do? Well *I* am the best gunsmith and armorer you'll ever meet." His crest rose with pride. "If it's supposed to hurt people or stop people from hurting you, I can make it better." Looking over at his workbench and the racks of weapons to either side of it, he nodded in evident satisfaction, those grey-green eyes burning bright. "But at the moment, that's just a sideline. I'm taking a bit of a sabbatical due to some unforeseen business expenses. This is something of a working vacation for me."

Carefully, he flipped the omelet over and seasoned it with some black flecks that filled the air with a sharp and savoury scent.
"So for now, I'm playing tech again. Doing my best to keep the Harlot running on a budget. And the Captain? Well... he does a little of everything. We'll haul cargo, do some light smuggling, security and merc work. Now and then we do a little bounty hunting. No wet work though, I don't do that stuff anymore." Flopping the large omelet onto a platter, he nodded for her to follow him to a table. "Problem with wetwork freelance is making sure you get paid. You're just as likely to have an employer who decides you're a loose end that needs tying off. After the third or fourth time you have to shoot up a kill team just to get a paycheck it gets kind of old."

Bronn set the table with plates, cutlery and then nodded for her to sit down. Tapping his omni-tool to page Varro, he dished them up with the oddly coloured, vividly turquoise omelet.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis' brows rose up about as far as they could go at the sight of those very large turquoise eggs, and suddenly felt a little dubious about this omelet. She remember what Varro said, and that he was obviously very correct. But she laughed a bit at his story about the Warmaster, sipping at her vodka, her legs swinging back and forth slightly since the stack of crates was tall enough that her feet weren't touching the ground.

She listened as Bronn told her what he and Varro did with themselves and the Harlot's Virtue, and she wasn't surprised, she'd sort of pegged them for the jack of all trades type. They weren't shift enough to be pure smugglers, or mean enough to be mercenaries or bounty hunters, but they had too much in the way of weaponry to just be into hauling cargo. They didn't fit into any category, which meant they probably fit into them all in one way or another.

Artemis followed him to the table, sniffing at the air a bit. “I've never killed anyone up close,” she told him, which wasn't something she told everyone especially out here. People tended to think that just because you weren't a killer, you were a push over. Just because she had never killed though didn't mean she wouldn't. Even if it wasn't her preferred method for handling a situation. “One of the advantages of being a fighter pilot is you don't have to see the people you shoot down,” she shrugged. And of course when she'd fought the Geth at the Battle of the Citadel, it hadn't even been people she was killing, just machines, so she'd felt no guilt at all.

She sat down and looked at the blue omelet, laughing a little to herself then looking at Bronn. “You're pretty weird you know that?” It was obvious from her tone though that she in no way meant that as an insult.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

Seeing her expression at the meal he'd whipped up, Bronn dug in and tasted it.
"They're Turian Delenva eggs. Kind of like a big, four-legged turkey? You can metabolize it. And the meat is Klixen. I promise, it's GOT to be tastier than Earth Alliance combat ration paks." Bronn took another bite and smacked his chops. "Tahlyn's gauche criticism to the contrary, my cooking's never killed anyone. But if you want ketchup, there's some in the chiller." He waved one stubby hand towards his fridge.

"Miss Chase, I'm hurt." Bronn held up a hand and looked wounded at her comment. "That's deeply insensitive. Just because I'm Krogan you expect me to be terse and gruff and violent? If I suggested all humans were loud-mouthed and bigoted, you'd be offended wouldn't you?" His serious expression dissolved into a grin. "Well, alright. I am a little odd. Never fit in back home, and once I got off Tuchanka and started to see the galaxy I knew I never would. Spent too much time around aliens picking up their ideas. Especially you humans." He reached over and patted her on the head. "You're just so interesting. So many ideas. So headlong. You make the Salarians seem slow and ponderous... no wonder you make the Citadel Council nervous." Bronn fell silent for a long moment, remembering other conversations he'd had on this topic. Long evenings talking with Professor Alekseyev about their two species' history.

"But coming back to killing... well, you'd be surprised how many folks manage to go their whole lives without killing anyone up close. It's not hard, though. That's the tragedy... anyone can do it. Pull the trigger and the light goes out, just like pressing a button." The Krogan shrugged. "I don't much enjoy it, but it has paid well now and then. Shame, really, that I tend to get paid more for carrying guns than I do for building them. Some people just don't appreciate fine art." He gave an elaborate sigh and then glanced over at the door as Tahlyn joined them.
"Don't tell me you two are comparing kills already?" The Turian smirked. "Don't let this dinosaur fool you, human. He's a featherweight. Ask him to tell you about Froggy, you'll see what I mean." Bronn frowned and threw a glare at Tahlyn, but kept on eating as the Turian captain set down a pot of coffee and dished himself up some of the blue-green eggs.

Tahlyn ate in silence, picking at each mouthful carefully and throwing the odd dirty look at Bronn.
"You put chilis in it. Why do you put chilis in everything?"
"It's the universal spice." Bronn insisted. "It's the one great Human discovery. Not even the Krogans found anything as good. Plus... I was out of Shrivv."
"Surrounded by barbarians. We all know that the best things to come from meeting Humans were chocolate and coffee." Tahlyn replied with a mock sneer. He poured himself a cup of coffee, then poured one for Artemis as he ate.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

“Oh I'm sure it's miles better than MRE's, but they're not blue,” she laughed a bit, forking her own a bit and taking a small, experimental bite. She decided she liked it and kept eating, unconsciously hunching over her plate and eating fast, like some one whose been in prison, or grew up with three older siblings who would eat anything in sight. They'd been like a plague of locusts. Anything that didn't get eaten fast enough had been snatched up and consumed. Artemis had also picked up the habit of hiding food from growing up with them, she'd driven her squad captain crazy with how she'd always seemed to produce a bag of candy out of nowhere to start munching on.

She laughed though as he feigned at being insulted. “No, we're pretty obnoxious,” she shrugged, she'd need a couple extra digits to be able to count how many times she'd been called that particular word, “and we've got our fair share of bigots. You should meet my dad.” Her green eyes rolled a bit, and she decided she'd rather they didn't meet her dad. Artemis gave him an affectionate grin when he patted her on the head, laughing a little as she ate. She was glad at least some one didn't hate her species, seemed like just about everyone else did. Which she thought was unfair because she liked most aliens just fine.

She looked up when Tahlyn joined them, giving him a small nod in greeting and laughing a little under breath. Artemis liked the chili peppers for one, she'd always had a fondness for spicy food. But she grinned when Tahlyn poured her some coffee, pulling the cup towards her, “Amen to that.” She pushed her plate aside, having already eaten as much as Bronn had on his plate, and sipped at her coffee since she'd already drunk all her vodka, which had numbed her mouth nicely. Her lip was a little swollen, but nothing too bad.

“Thanks for letting me stay here a bit, by the way, since I don't think I said that yet,” she told them between sipping her coffee, looking between the two of them.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

"What's wrong with blue? 'S a good colour." Bronn argued as he finished his food and then grinned as Artemis wolfed down her portion. "Ha. Knew it would grow on you. Always does."
"Like an infection." Tahlyn put in, downing his coffee as he bit into one of the chunks of spicy pepper.

"Oh I'm sure your father would love Bronn," the Turian put in, looking sidelong at his engineer. Bronn pretended not to be listening. "A walking talking testament to interspecies cooperation, this lizard."
"It's a lot easier being magnanimous when you're big enough to tear their arms off and beat them with the damp end." Bronn said primly, "besides, I'll bet I could talk him around. Krogan and Humans have so much in common."

Tahlyn put down his fork and slid his plate away half-eaten. Bronn sighed and stole it, digging in with gusto as his boss leaned forward and folded his arms.
"We're pulling out in the morning. Headed for an old Krogan colony. Garvug, in the Valhallan Threshold." Varro looked at Artemis. "If you want a ride, we can make a fuelling stop along the way and drop you somewhere. We'll need to discharge the engines anyways." Bronn looked up and grinned, but Tahlyn shot him a glare before he opened his big mouth. "Ride's not free. You travel on the Harlot and you work your passage. We've got maintenance that needs doing, and I could use a backup pilot too. The less time I spend in the cockpit, the more I can spend making sure we're ready when we get where we're going."

Standing up, the Turian nodded to her and turned to go.
"I'll be in my quarters. If you decide to stay, come let me know. If not, you know where the hatch is." Without waiting for her to respond, Tahlyn strode out, leaving the cargo bay's hatch open behind him.

Bronn kept quiet for a few seconds, then collected the dishes and took them to the sonic washer he used for getting the oxides off weapons components, stacking them inside and turning it on. As it began to thrum, he started humming the theme song to a recent holo-blockbuster. It was based on the story of Commander Shepard and her fight against Saren, a lot of the critics were calling it humanocentric propaganda for its portrayal of the Citadel Council, but it was wildly popular all the same.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

“Oh I love blue,” Artemis laughed, “My favorite color actually. Just not for omelets.” She shrugged and smiled a little, “Eggs on earth are yellow and white.” Even on Elysium growing up when they'd had eggs on rare occasion (usually when they went out for breakfast) they'd been from imported chickens raised on the colony so they'd been a soft yellow color, since she preferred her eggs scrambled.

She frowned a bit though when they talked of Bronn winning her father over, “I seriously doubt it Bronn... but if you did I'd give you a medal.” Artemis just shook her head a bit. Her father was without a doubt one of the most stubborn people she'd ever met. Why her mother put up with him she'd never know. Her mother wasn't closed minded, she did perhaps prefer the company of humans since she'd grown up in a time when humanity still thought themselves the only life in the galaxy, but she didn't hate aliens, she treated them often at her clinic. But if her father had his way every alien on Elysium would be kicked out and it'd be a human exclusive colony.

She looked at Tahlyn though as he leaned forward and told her that they'd be leaving in the morning, and that she could catch a ride with them, though it was quickly clarified that she wouldn't be riding for free. That didn't really bother Artemis, she didn't like charity, she probably would have offered some sort of help for a ride anyway. He didn't really give her the chance to answer though, leaving before she could do so, making her frown a bit at his back.

Artemis got up after a moment and wandered over to Bronn, “Yeah, definitely not the friendliest of Turians,” She laughed a bit. As contrary to popular belief among most humans she knew, there were friendly Turians. She'd met a couple herself. Tahlyn was not among them. He wasn't an asshole or anything, well, a bit, but so much that she wanted to punch him in the face. “I think I'll take him up on his offer but... I actually have a few belongings I'd like to get from where I've been staying,” She let out a sigh, leaning against the counter with her arms crossed, looking at the Krogan, “Think you'd be up for playing body guard for about an hour?” She asked with a grin. She wouldn't past those little loan shark bastards to have some one waiting for her at that shitty little motel. She just hoped they hadn't stolen her stuff, there was nothing of actual value, but a few sentimental things she'd rather not part with, and her clothes of course.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

Bronn turned away from clearing up. The rest of his lair might be cluttered but the kitchen he'd built for himself was scrupulously clean. As he was sweeping the last of the trash into the 'cycler, he shrugged.
"Actually, I'd say he was being pretty friendly. At least from baseline Tahlyn. Should have seen how glad he was when *I* signed on, and I'd just hauled his scaly butt out of a gunfight." The Krogan turned thoughtful for a moment. "Though he might just have been cranky because he got shot. No one really likes getting shot."

Clapping her on the shoulder, hard enough to almost knock her flat, Bronn grinned broadly.
"Figured you'd take him up on it. Figured he'd make you an offer." His grey-green eyes gleamed. "Confidentially, Tahlyn's a bit of a crap pilot. He can handle the Harlot because she's not much of a flyer, but he hasn't got any flair. But you didn't seem like the merchant type, and you didn't act like you were just slumming, so I figured you were probably a pilot. The way you moved, I figured ex-military. Seemed like a good hire, I would have suggested it if those Salarians hadn't showed up." The Krogan smirked. "Keep quiet about it, though. Varro really doesn't like being manipulated. Especially not by his big dumb Krogan sidekick."

The smirk turned into a downright evil grin.
"Don't look shocked. Someone's got to wipe his nose and make sure his boots are tabbed." Bronn chuckled and walked towards his workbench. "Besides, some new company on board would be a nice change... and you don't cheat at cards." He hauled down a heavily modified M-76 Revenant light MG and checked the action. The stock and handgrips were heavily engraved with the same curling vine pattern that ran along the edges of his crest.

"Haven't played bodyguard in a while, but Lady Shiagur could use some exercise." Snapping a pair of heat sinks in, he watched the little display on side as the diagnostic ran and the capacitors charged. Collapsing it, he clipped it to his back and then slung a heavy satchel over his shoulder, tucking more heat sinks into pouches on its strap.

Touching his comm, he paged Tahlyn.
"Boss, we're going on a field trip. Need anything from the market?" The com beeped softly, then crackled and Tahlyn's dry tones came back.
"Grocery shopping's your job, Kurrlok. You two have fun, but if you aren't back by curfew, you're grounded."

The comm chimed off and Bronn began walking down the racks of weapons, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
"Looks like we've got permission to go play." He said, picking up a Carnifex and examining it before setting it back down. "Are you happy with that pistol you're toting, or would you like to try one of mine? Not that I really expect trouble, but you can never be too rich, good looking or well armed." Thick fingers tapped the butt of a Kassa Hornet SMG and then gestured at a row of pistols, an open offer for Artemis to see if there was anything she liked.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis lifted her eye brows when Bronn told her that that was Tahlyn being pretty friendly, “Well then I'm glad he decided not to be an ass...” She muttered under her breath. Artemis knew she couldn't take him in a fight, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try if pushed. She was perfectly aware of the fact that she had rather poor impulse control, especially when she was pissed off. She'd tried to curb her temper for years to no avail, the best she could do was try to avoid people and situations that would set her off. “But no, generally, no one much likes getting shot,” she herself had never had the misfortune, but she figured it was only a matter of time.

Her knees buckled a bit under the weight of the Krogan's hand as he clapped her on the shoulder, but she managed not to stumble, instead she just grinned a bit that Bronn seemed so pleased that she was deciding to stick around. “He just invited me to stay until you guys could drop me off somewhere else Bronn, not hire me or something,” she shrugged at him. She really didn't get why he was so happy about having her along, but she wasn't going to complain. It got her out of the danger of having a bunch of Vorcha set on her at any minute and she liked Bronn and the Harlot's Virtue, the jury was still out on Tahlyn. Overall though, it was an agreeable situation.

Artemis had to admit that for all the stupid things she did and bad situations she got into herself in with her impetuous nature, occasionally it seemed to work in her favor.

She followed Bronn over to his work bench, watching him select his guns from the racks, and grinning a bit when they got the all clear from Tahlyn. She blinked a bit though as he offered one of his own to replace her pistol. She pulled hers out of it's holster, eying it a bit. It was just a Kessler pistol, a bit dated by now, but it had served her faithfully. With a small sigh she decided that Bronn was right though, you could never be too well-armed, especially on Omega. So she set it on the work bench and grabbed the Carnifex that he had set down, always having had a fondness for pistols, and a Tempest for a little more flair though she'd take the accuracy of a pistol over the quantity of an SMG any day.

Tucking the weapons away she looked at Bronn and nodded, “Alright, let's go.”

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

When she told him that she was just hitching a ride, Bronn smiled.
"You don't know the Turian. He just let me book passage to Tuchanka and back. That was..." his expression turned thoughtful, as though he was thinking complicated thoughts. "Nine or ten months ago, in Terran reckoning. Your calendar is really kind of a mess, you know. The fractions give me a headache."

"But what's important is - odds Tahlyn offers you a job before we make landfall again? Pretty good. If you're as shit-hot as most Alliance fighter pilots, they get even better." He watched her pick out a couple of his toys, and handed her a handful of heatsinks for them. "Varro's cagey. He likes to be sure before he does anything. Doesn't trust anyone too far. Not like yours truly." He picked up the Kessler and examined it several times.

As he toyed with the pistol, his expression grew very concentrated and he began to disassemble it with a grunt. He had the gun broken down into its major components and was looking down the barrel with a critical eye when she announced she was ready to go. For a moment, the Krogan looked almost disappointed, but he set the barrel down with the rest of the parts on his diagnostic bench and dusted his hands.
"Sorry. Haven't seen one of these in a while. Hahne-Kedar do some nice work. Give me a day or two and I can bring this little darling right up to speed, have her purring like a naughty kitty." His deep, rumbling chortle filled the air and he turned and led her back to the ship's docking hatch.

Pulling his own Tempest, he checked the load again and slipped it back into the low-slung varren leather holster on his left hip.
"Well, you know the way, Miss Chase. Let's go get your stuff." From the look on his face, he was hoping for trouble, even if he wasn't expecting it.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis didn't really know what to say about Bronn implying that Tahlyn would likely hire her. She wouldn't lie, that sounded pretty awesome to her. Steady employment was very welcome at this point. She would have settled for far less savory work at this point just to have some sort of money coming in, so the prospect of being able to fly the Harlot's Virtue sounded like heaven to her. Still though, she tried not to get her hopes set on it.

She opened her mouth to protest when he start to disassemble her pistol, feeling a little protective of it, but she sighed and just watched. She had to remind herself that Bronn actually knew what he was doing, and that she'd just decided to replace it with a couple of his own weapons. So she smiled a bit when he offered to get it up to speed, “That'd be great.” She laughed, “I've had that gun a long time, I'd hate to part with it.” She hadn't gone so far as to name it, knowing her terrible sense of humor she'd probably continue her Greek mythology theme, but still, she was fond of the little gun.

She let him lead the way out but once they were outside the docks she lead him to the run down motel she'd been shacking up in. She saw no sign of her little friends anywhere on the way in, and in the small room she grabbed her belongings and stuffed them all in the military duffel bag she carried.

She opened the drawer of the night stand where she had several bags of candy stashed, opening one and popping a gummy bear in her mouth before she put them in the duffel bag as well. The last thing to go was a stuffed animal, well really a pillow made to resemble a panda in shape and color. It took a bit of effort but she finally got it in and zipped the bag up, looking around quickly to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. “Guess that's it,” She slung the bag over her shoulder and moved past the Krogan towards the door to leave.

Artemis was greeted with the the muzzle of a rifle in her face when she opened the door, seeing a very battered Salarian on the other end. “Miss Chase,” he sneered, “You just had to make things difficult didn't you?”

“Yeah, kind of my thing you know?” She shrugged, seeming unconcerned about the gun in her face.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

Taking in her worry as he'd fiddled with her pistol, he patted her on the shoulder as they made their way through downside Omega.
"The Kessler was a good little slugthrower. I don't see the need for heavy pistols, honestly. If you need that much bulk, you're better hauling something like a shotgun or rifle. It's not THAT much bigger, and most of you little folks need two hands to handle a Carnifex anyways. But trust me, a few days with your pistol and she'll be better than she was when they shipped her from the factory. New feed ramp, extended barrel, gyroscopic recoil compensation and my own patented dual heat mitigation system." Bronn grew even more animated talking about his work, if that were possible.

"Ask nicely, I'll even throw in a set of holosights." He grinned, flexing his fingers as though eager to get back so he could start tearing it down even further. "Folks are too easy to toss away the old things. If it works, hang onto it. I'm still not sold on the disposable heat sinks. Short term firepower versus long term logistics problems... There's got to be a better way to increase firepower, right?" His philosophical ramblings weren't really anything but thinking out loud. Bronn didn't seem to expect a reply, he didn't even seem to be talking to Artemis anymore as she led him into her little hotel and up to the room she'd been sleeping in.

Bronn helped her collect her things and seemed very interested in the panda but he didn't ask any questions as Artemis was stuffing it into her bulging duffel.
"Why don't you let me carry that?" He asked her. "It's gotta mass almost a third what you do. That's... my left leg? Not even." He was reaching for it when he saw the gun muzzle and stepped backwards, folding his arms.

"Veno, right? Look, you're obviously in a bad mood. Granted, last time you two saw each other some things were said, but both of you need to remember one thing. The large and dangerous Krogan with a short temper and poor impulse control." Bronn moved forward and held up a canister. It wasn't large, not much bigger than a can of soda, but it had some very frightening warning signs on it. Biohazard Trefoils AND the Citadel Glyph for Active Nanotech. "This is a canister of my very own Pirahna Nano. It attacks carbon based organic molecules and has a half life of ten minutes. There's enough in this canister to reduce everyone in the hotel to half-melted skeletons on piles of goo. So why don't you put down that gun and go somewhere safer?" Bronn tapped the canister against the muzzle of Veno's rifle.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

The panda was something she'd had for years, as was evident by his once white 'fur' which was just a fuzzy sort of fabric now being a bit dingy looking, and he had a place or two along the many seams of his fabric that had colored thread stitching it back together. It'd just been something she'd gotten for a birthday one year when she was about seventeen and she'd kept him ever since, as Artemis had a secret fondness for stuffed animals. She still had quite of a few of them back at her parents' house, provided her father hadn't tossed them out when they'd had their falling out. She'd had a fair few more with her if she wasn't on the move so much, so it was just her and Short Round.

Artemis glanced at Bronn as he got the Salarian's attention, smirking a little as she looked back to Veno, who was looking rather disgruntled. She wondered if who ever had been waiting on her had told him that she'd been accompanied by the Krogan. Surely not or he'd have come up with some better plan of attack than just go waving his gun in Artemis' face, since that hadn't worked very well last time either.

“I'd take the Krogan's advice if I were you Veno,” she suggested with a sweet smile. Veno just stared at her, rage in his large eyes and his flat lips twitching, before he jerked the barrel of his rifle out of her face. Artemis sighed, moving past him, the Salarian stepping aside, gripping his rifle tightly. She hoisted the bag onto her shoulder, ignoring Bronn's offer to carry it for her since she was stubborn, starting to walk down the balcony-like hallway that looked down onto an open air lobby.

Apparently though Veno hadn't told his little minions to stand down and Artemis jumped back a bit as a Vorcha leaped at her from a sheltered door way with a vicious snarl, grabbing at her. Artemis swung her bag around more out of reflex than anything, slamming it into him and sending him over the railing and down into the lobby with a loud squeal. “Jesus Christ on toast!” She snarled.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

Bronn was just starting to relax when things went completely out of control. A Vorcha stepped up, and those things were too stupid to understand any of what he'd been talking about. Before he could react, Artemis had knocked him over the railing and he'd fallen four stories.

Veno started to lower his weapon and Bronn grabbed his head and knocked the rifle aside.
"Wait, don't-" Veno's words were cut off as the Krogan head butted him with bone-breaking force.

Veno slumped to the ground, but not before his fingers clenched on the trigger and a long, wildly uncontrolled burst went ripping through the door and wall. The last two rounds clipped Bronn, ricocheting off his shield.

Letting the unconscious Salarian go, Bronn tucked his little canister away and pulled his Tempest. Glancing over the railing, he ducked back as the other Salarian loan shark and a half dozen Vorcha opened fire, filling the air with whining slugs.
"I think it's probably time to go." He told Artemis as he stuck his gun out and fired a long, wildly uncontrolled burst. Glancing out he sighed. Yup, didn't hit a thing.

Not bothering to reload, he holstered the Tempest again and unshipped his Revenant.
"You know, these guys really seem to dislike you." He mentioned as he moved over beside her. The sound of Vorcha climbing the stairwell, their cackling snarls growing louder, made him look in that direction. "Normally I need to sleep with someone's mate to get this kind of reaction." He grunted as a near miss chipped at the railing and spattered him with plastic fragments.

The Krogan moved past her, half-crawling to stay down, his rifle leveled at the stairwell. One of the Vorcha stuck his head out and fired his shotgun, hitting Bronn in the shoulder, shields flaring as he rocked back. Then Bronn opened up, laying down a stream of tracers that tracked towards the Vorcha but failed to hit as their attacker ducked back behind cover before it struck.
"So, have any clever plans or is this going to get even messier?" There was stress in his voice. Bronn did not sound happy.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis flinched and instinctively raised her bag a bit when Veno's gun went off, but the line of bullets went wide and didn't go near her, only clipping Bronn's shields. “Fuck!” She snarled, pulling out her Carnifex and adjusting her bag on her shoulder so she could hold it with both hands. Then things just kind of went down hill from there, with Veno's brother and partner, Herot, arriving with the cavalry.

She ducked out of the way as they started shooting in their general direction, looking at Bronn when he spoke. “You think?” She laughed sarcastically. Artemis crouched down, grinning a little, “Yeah, I tend to have that effect on people. They either love me or they hate me.” She shrugged, it was just how she'd always been, her lack of impulse control either made her some new friends or new enemies. Unfortunately it seemed like since she'd left the military it made her more enemies than friends.

She followed after Bronn, flinching away as there was a spray of plastic and plaster, taking cover as he and the Vorcha exchanged a bit of fire. She glanced at the Krogan when he spoke, letting out a sigh. Artemis hadn't meant to drag him into this sort of mess. Her mouth pulled to the side in that weird thinking habit she had, not saying anything for a moment as she considered her options before she glanced out into the hall way where Veno's prone figure was still laying on the ground.

“Yeah, but it's not going to make me any more popular with these guys,” she told him with a sigh, “Cover me.” She said, slinging her bag off her shoulder and handing it over to him, “And hold this if you don't mind.” And she slid out into the hallway, still crouched low, making her way quickly over to Veno, whom she grabbed by the arm and hauled over to her, standing up with an arm wrapped around his chest, effectively using him as a shield. Her other hand pressed the muzzle of her pistol to his head. “Hey Herot!” She shouted, “Call off your little horde or I'll be painting the walls with your brothers gray matter!” She sidled over, dragging the Salarian with her, so that Herot could see them.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

"Think it's too late to offer to switch sides? Maybe bring them down from inside?" Bronn asked idly just as one of the bursts from ground level cut through the barrier and overloaded his shields. Sparks flew from his armour and he winced in pain at the impact to his rib-struts. "Ow! Dammit I just rebuilt this. If I bleed on this armour you're paying my cleaning bill, Chase." He gave her a dirty look and dove flat as another burst cut through and chewed a larger hole through the plas.

Taking her bag, the Krogan shouldered it and fired one-handed towards the stairwell. His shields were charging, that distinctive low hum letting everyone know he was still vulnerable.
"I think you're pretty popular with them already," he said, one of the twin heat sinks popping from his weapon in a hiss of spent coolant. Bronn didn't stop firing as he dropped her bag and slapped in a fresh pack, his fire carving a hole right through the wall and sending three Vorcha diving for cover. "Squirmy little vermin. They're like those terran bugs... roosters? Like cockroosters." He spat in disgust and finally managed to walk his burst across one target. The Vorcha dove back down the stairs before his shields went down and Bronn cursed.

Then Artemis' voice reached his ears and he turned and saw her holding Veno with his pistol to the Salarian's skull. Why hadn't HE thought of that?
"Hold your fire. Let him go, human." Herot called up to them. "You can't get out past us, and if you kill him I inherit his half of the business."

Bronn actually laughed at that, slinging his rifle and digging in his satchel for something.
"Keep him talking a minute. I have an idea." He said, holding up a thick disc like a dinnerplate with a handgrip on one edge. Holding it in one hand, he pulled out a couple more of his foam grenades and winked at her.

~tag~