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

Chase winced when Bronn's shields overloaded, and in the back of her mind she couldn't help but think that getting his only crew member shot up on what was supposed to be a quick outing wasn't going to be the greatest first impression on Tahlyn. But she nodded at his instruction to keep Herot talking, hoping his idea worked. She looked back towards the other Salarian, her pistol still pressed to Veno's head. He'd started to wake up though so Artemis moved her grip from his chest to his neck to keep him from getting awake.

“Morning sunshine,” Artemis grinned at him before looking at Herot, “What in the world do you want from me Herot?” She called, “I don't have the money, and if you kill me you still won't get the money!” Their business tactics really sucked. Go after the already poor and expect them to somehow magically produce money, and then kill them when they don't. No wonder they had to hire Vorcha to work for them.

Veno struggled against her grip as he seemed to finally come to completely, “Let me go you filthy human!” He growled at her.

Artemis gritted her teeth and pressed the muzzle of her pistol hard into his head, “I'm not in the mood Veno.” She hissed at him, “You and your fucking brother brought this on yourself, I mean seriously, what was the point of even coming here? You gonna take my bags of candy and go sell them to put towards my debt?” Artemis scoffed under her breath, “I thought Salarians were supposed to be smart...”

“Did you and your brother just skip economics class in Salarian school or something?” She called to Herot, “Because you two make some awful financial decisiosn.”
 
~~Kurrlok Bronn~~

Veno struggled but the feel of the muzzle against the side of his skull was enough to still him for the most part.
"We expect to recover our investment." Veno said, his voice a little shrill. "And letting you go without paying would be worse for business.
"We were going to sell you to a Batarian slaver." Herot added. "Now I think we'll just sell your organs. We won't make as much but it'll be worth it once word gets out." The words were punctuated by a metronome crack of pistol slugs whistling over their heads and striking the walls.

"*I* could have told you that." Bronn grunted as he kicked open the nearest room's door. "This is Omega, you know. Amazing what you can buy or sell if you know the right names. Now come on!"

Firing wildly down the hall at the Vorcha who were working themselves up to charge, Bronn hustled into the small hotel room, nodding politely at the cowering Asari and a young asian woman who were hiding by the bed. Both were nude and holding one another, eyes wide with fear at the gunfight going on around them.
"Pardon me, miss. Misses." He pressed the disc to the outer wall and then touched a button, it expanded into a ring over a meter across. "May get kind of loud. Cover your ears. You too, luv," he nodded back to Artemis as he flipped the bed over the two frightened guests and turned towards the door.

The ring exploded with a rippling 'crack-crack-crack', blowing the debris outwards to fall into the lane below. It left a smoking hole in the wall and caused a shockwave that rocked Bronn and got a pair of screams from the terrified women under the bed.
"After you, Miss Chase. Ladies, you might want to come too. Vorcha aren't too bright about picking their targets." He said with a grin, reloading his rifle and tossing a couple of his foam grenades into the doorway. "Careful. The first step's a doozie." He wasn't joking, the drop was a good thirty feet straight down to the street below.

With a billowing whump, the doorway was almost completely blocked by the greenish-blue foam, and the sound of gunfire in the hall beyond suddenly grew muted. Bronn lifted the bed up, urging the two innocent bystanders up.
"Artemis? Come on. Give the salamander a kick and let's go. The foam's not going to last long and it's only a matter of time before they realize they can just come through the wall. Or walk around the block." Personally, the Krogan favoured putting two in his head, but Chase seemed a little squeamish for that. No need to shock her.

~tag~
 
“I was going to pay you back you stupid mother fuckers!” Artemis snarled, starting to lose her temper with these two annoying little pricks. But when Herot added that they were going to sell her to a Batarian slaver she let out a growl, the arm around Veno's neck tightening until he choked a bit, and she was about to fire off a round at the other Salarian when a small barrage of pistol slugs went over her and Veno's heads, forcing her to duck and drag him with her.

She looked at Bronn as he kicked open the door to the nearest room and called for her to come along, and she followed, still dragging Veno by a tight grip on his neck, the Salarian struggling to get free and gasping for air. Artemis was only just barely controlling her rage, but she kept it in check long enough to take cover from the blast, her ears were left ringing a bit but she was fine. She only glanced at the two women as they got up, before she looked back to Bronn and then shoved Veno away from her, training her pistol onto his head. “Fucking sell me to Batarians?” She snarled, “I should kill you you little fucking frog.”

Veno looked a little shocked and froze in place, staring at her. Artemis was abrasive, even violent at times, but murderous wasn't something the Salarian had ever pegged her for. It was pretty clear though that she'd been pushed a tad too far. He opened his mouth to try and talk his way out of the situation but didn't get the chance as his head exploded from his forehead on, sending a thick spray of green blood and matter across the wall and floor behind him. His body hung there for a moment before flopping over and Artemis put the Carnifex away before walking to the hole in the wall.

She sat down on the edge and looked down quickly before sliding over the edge, landing below with her knees bent. Though it did send a jar up her legs and hips, Artemis had jumped from similar heights with far less dignified results, so she considered that a victory. She turned and looked back up at the whole, frowning to herself before backing away a bit to make room, “Come on Bronn!” She called up to him, then remembered something, “And don't forget my bag!” Her mind was purposefully avoiding what she'd just done, compartmentalizing it, as she'd learned to do over the years. It was how she was able to operate under stress, in fact, she often flourished under stress where others faltered and fell.
 
~~Kurrlok Bronn & Tahlyn Varro~~

The sound of gunfire outside was getting louder, and first one and then a handful of slugs punched through the glutinous, hardening nano-foam. Bronn was busy trying to coax the two frightened women up, they seemed awfully leery of him.

Then he heard the gunshot and looked over at a dead Salarian. Well, that solved one problem. Moving over, he flopped Veno's corpse onto its belly and left a grenade primed underneath as a parting gift.

Scooping up Artemis' bag, he tossed it out the window after her.
"Catch!" He shouted, slinging his Revenant and wrapping his right arm around both women. More rounds were punching through by now, the sounds of furious Vorcha snapping and cackling getting awfully close.

From below Artemis saw him leap out the window and extend his left arm up over his head. His barrier flared and his omni-tool glowed as it built a short-lived flat shape in midair, an airfoil to slow his fall a little. The two women yelped and struggled but Bronn came down and absorbed the impact on his thick legs.
"Ladies, sorry about rousting you." Bronn said apologetically as he let go of them and was punched and slapped a few times for his trouble. An explosion upstairs blew debris out the still smoldering hole in the wall. "I'd go find something to wear if I were you, as much as I appreciate the view." The Asari glared at him as they fled around the corner but Bronn merely threw the two naked females an appreciative salute.

"Tsk. If I were human I'd have gotten a kiss for being all heroic. Ahh the life of a Krogan is a rough one." He said in a chuckling, grumbling voice. "Come on, Arty, Herot's probably a little pissy right now and Tahlyn's going to be wondering where we are." The Krogan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her down an alley. "Besides, Omega's starting to lose its rustic charm... and the guys at Blue Suns do get kind of shirty about blowing holes in bits of the station."

They made it back to the dock to find Tahlyn sitting on an empty cargopod waiting for them. He was scrolling through a news story on his omni-tool with a compact shotgun across his knees, and he looked up when they approached.
"Miss Chase? Mis-ter Kurrlok?" Standing, he stowed the shotgun and folded his arms behind him. He reminded her of a disappointed drill sergeant just before the shouting started. Bronn cleared his throat and unconsciously braced to attention, her duffel still slung over one shoulder. "You made it back safely, what an amazing thing." Irony dripped from every word. "The news reports from Sector Seven are just getting good. Apparently some terrorists shot up a motel." Those violet eyes fixed on Artemis. "Your motel, in fact. What a coincidence. It's lucky neither of you was involved."

Tahlyn activated his omni-tool and it displayed a holo of the wall exploding outwards and then Artemis dropping down to the street, followed by Bronn's melodramatic leap. The Turian captain's toes tapped as he rewound it and let them watch again. Then it cut to an interview with the two women and he tapped it off.
"Miss Chase, once we're aboard I'd like to see you on the command deck. Bronn... you're needed in the engine room. Full pre-flight diagnostics and then start on an inventory of our spare parts. By hand, Bronn."

For a long moment he just looked at them, then, finally, he threw up one hand as though giving up and turned to stalk back to the ship. Bronn stood at attention until Tahlyn was out of sight and then breathed a sigh of relief.
"I think Dad's angry that we snuck out to a party without him." The Krogan murmured. "He's always a little cranky when he feels left out."

~tag~
 
Artemis caught her bag, letting out a bit of a grunt as it weighed a fair bit, and slung it over her shoulder, looking back up as Bronn approached the hole. And she back up a bit more for good measure, just in case you know. She still felt the small shock wave of his impact in her boots, smirking a little and crossing her arms as the two women punched and slapped at Bronn for his trouble, watching them scurry off. She patted the Krogan's arm as he spoke of not being thanked for his heroic action, “Well here then,” she said, leaning up on her tip toes and pressing a kiss to his broad cheek, “My hero!” She swooned in a falsetto, batting her eye lashes. “Better?”

She rolled her eyes though as he called her 'Arty' and put his arm around her shoulders, “Oh god please don't call me that.” Artemis groaned, walking with him down the alley.

When they got to the docks and she saw Tahlyn waiting for them, she glanced at Bronn, having a bad feeling about this, especially when he greeted them, looked disappointed and stern. But she just looked at him, her own gaze hard. There was a reason she'd left the military, not just because of her disillusionment with the whole thing, but that Artemis really did not respond to authority the way a soldier should. She'd grown up with it, that overbearing military command, it grated her nerves, which were already a bit shot at the moment, though she'd been trying to hide it. So she just stood there, rigid, managing to restrain herself from just glaring at the Turian when he looked at her, her mouth a hard line.

Artemis watched the holo with a look of disinterest, and then looked back to Tahlyn when he said he'd like to see her on the command deck, and ordered Bronn down in the engine room. She watched him go, glaring at his back. She let out a sigh of disappointment though when he was gone, ah well there went the job she'd been daring to hope for. Figures. Artemis wondered how long before she finally sucked up her pride and went back home, not long with how her luck had been going.

She glanced at Bronn, sorry she'd apparently gotten him in a bit of trouble, it hadn't been her intention. “Yeah well,” she shrugged, “Guess I should go let him yell at me and get it over with. I'll take that.” She said, reaching for her bag and slinging it back over her shoulder before going inside and up to the command deck, sticking her head in first. “Permission to enter?” She asked, old habits died hard.
 
~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

Bronn took the dressing down with good humour, but as soon as Tahlyn was out of sight he smirked.
"Told you he'd be grumpy that he missed the gunfight." Bronn said, then looked over at her and gave her a gentle punch on the shoulder. "It's a good sign, you know. If he didn't want you around he'd have tossed you off the ship." The Krogan rubbed his chin and chuckled. "You go ahead and make peace. I've got rivets to polish."

The Turian Captain was sitting in the pilot's chair, leaning back with his fingers steepled and his eyes closed.
"Granted." He said without turning or opening his eyes. "Do you know how I met that Krogan reprobate?" He asked in a conversational tone. "He stepped in to a fight. My fight. No reason, he just decided to even the odds. Opened up with that cannon of his and didn't hit a damned thing but landscape. Did distract the Eclipse mercs gunning for me though, which turned out to be enough."

Now Tahlyn spun the chair to face her, leaning forward and waving for her to take a seat at the nav console.
"Maybe he just likes a good fight, but frankly he's a shitty soldier. Those instincts are going to get him killed one of these days, and I'm getting kind of fond of the scaly idiot." Tahlyn sighed and gave her a look, those violet eyes meeting hers intently. "Kindly don't get him perished in some sordid little bar brawl or gunfight? He deserves something that will get him into that... valhalla he's always talking about. Or what's that other one, where they eat their enemies? Kruban?" Shaking his head and making a throwaway gesture, Varro rolled his eyes. "Spent too long with him, I'm going strange."

Standing, he glared at her.
"Pilot Chase, run the pre-flight and contact Omega control for launch authorization. Lay in a course to the Mass Relay, then to the Crescent Nebula and the Tasale system. We're going to Illium first, and then on to Garvug. I need some translations done before we head for the Valhallan Threshold." Tahlyn smiled faintly. "Oh, and don't tell Bronn where we're headed. I'd like it to be a surprise." He gave a Turian smirk, sharp teeth gleaming.

"If there's anything you need, I'll be down in engineering, making sure Bronn disconnects his still from the coolant system before we go too far." He nodded to her and turned to go. "Oh, and we'll talk pay scales and perks once we see how you fly. Fair?"

~tag~
 
Artemis was dubious of Bronn's comment that it was a good sign that Tahlyn hadn't simply tossed her off the ship. Sure, she supposed he could have done that, but she still doubted he was going to offer her a job now. So when he told her to come in she stood with a sort of resigned look on her face, her bag over her shoulder, listening as he told her how he'd met Bronn. Sounded familiar.

She sat when he indicated for her to, setting her bag at her feet and looking at him, waiting for him to tell her that when they landed in Garvug that she would be getting off the Harlot's Virtue. So she just kept listening, her green eyes meeting his violet ones when he asked her not to get him killed in some bar brawl or gun fight, not sure what to make of that. She couldn't help the small smirk though at the mention of Valhalla, still finding it amusing that Bronn seemed to know so much about human history. Not even most humans knew some of the things he did.

Artemis rubbed her forehead when he stood, her mouth pulling to the side, waiting for him to either tell her to get off the ship, or to make it clear she was by no means welcome for an extended stay. So she was a little relieved when it seemed that he at least wasn't going to be kicking her off immediately. She was leaving Omega with more enemies than she'd had when she arrived, she wouldn't like to find out what would happen if she was stranded her now. Artemis nodded curtly, starting to turn to the navigation console to get everything set up, but faltered when he spoke the last time, openly staring at him.

“Uh, yeah, fair,” she answered in a sort of stunned way. Pay scales and perks? Then... he was offering her a job? This Turian sure did have a strange standard for credentials... She turned away from him, back to the console, her fingers tapping and stroking the interface, getting their path lined up, her mind reeling just a bit from everything that had happened today.
 
~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

The ship's controls were unlocked and set to authorize a new user, and the primitive Turian VI accepted her without any prompting, setting up a database of her biometrics for future authorization.

The Harlot's Virtue might be old and kludged together, but it had obviously been done by techs who knew what they were doing. Varro hadn't been lying about the maneuvering, though. It wallowed like a cargo shuttle with a full load, its maneuvering thrusters obviously underpowered as she received clearance and the docking bay opened to release them from local control.

Tahlyn returned to the cockpit, sitting down at the systems console and running a series of diagnostics. It was busy-work, really, he knew that the life-support and gravitics were working just fine, that the heat sinks and inertial compensators were active and that the ship's ME barriers were in good shape. It was amazing what Bronn could do with access to even half-decent parts. He might be all but hopeless when it came to software, but he was a genius tinkerer.

"How's my best girl handling?" Tahlyn asked finally as they cleared the station and the field of asteroids that served as a security perimeter. Checking the astrogation, he stood and leaned over Artemis, touching a control switch that wasn't labeled. "Harlot's Virtue, grant Pilot Chase full access and disable flight lockouts."

There was a 'chunk' of interlocks clicking and a hum beneath their feet.
"That should help." Tahlyn smiled coolly as he sat down again. "I don't like everyone to know that she's got better engines. It's not much, but an extra twenty percent acceleration comes in handy... and so does a two thirds increase in maneuvering thrust. For emergencies."

Violet eyes glittered as the Turian leaned back and let Artemis fly.

~tag~
 
Artemis got a better look at the ship's credentials now that she was actually working with it, and while the Harlot's Virtue was far from top of the line, she as just happy to be working with a ship again. Even if it wasn't a small and fast little star fighter like she was used to. Still though, she was a good ship, sturdy if nothing else. With a lot of character. Artemis was a little sentimental perhaps in finding a ship with character more appealing than some ship with the best of everything that looked and handled like a hundred other ships that had come off the manufacturer's yard.

She glanced up when Tahlyn returned, but kept at her task, easing the ship out of the docks and away from the station. She was a bit sluggish, but she handled fine besides that, Artemis just had to be aware of the fact that this ship wasn't going to have lightning fast reactions to her slightest touch. With her fighter, at times it had felt like she and the machine had been on thing. “Just fine,” she answered, Tahlyn's question, smirking a little, “Just a bit... sluggish.”

Her head ducked out of the way a bit as Tahlyn leaned over her and flipped some switch she hadn't dare to touch, since she had no idea what it was. She blinked a little though as Tahlyn gave the ship a voice command, looking at him with raised brows as the ship responded. She gave a soft laugh, turning back to the controls and eyeing the new read outs. “Well, that does help,” she said, setting them on a path for the Mass Relay near by, with the ship setting them for the Tasale System and Illium. As they near she engaged the Relay, feeling the familiar sort of 'stretching' sensation as the Relay began to warp time and space around them.

There was a jolt, and then they were lightyears away in the Tasale System. Artemis grinned to herself, pleased with her first Relay Jump at the controls of the Harlot.
 
~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

He watched her as she piloted them into the relay, trying to hide his pleasure at how well she handled his ship. The trip through the relay was as smooth as any he'd ever made and he nodded in satisfaction.
"Lay in a course for Illium, feel free to contact Nos Astra Inbound Control when we're in range. No need to waste fuel though."

Tahlyn stood and stretched a little.
"I'm going to go grab a workout. Feel free to let the autopilot do most of the work. Might want to catch a nap on the way in, because I'm going to want backup on my errand and Bronn... he'll be otherwise occupied. In fact, you should probably warn him about our destination. I'll be in Bay 2 if you need me." The Turian left, moving down the steps and into the smaller of the three cargo bays. He'd outfitted part of it as a gym, and began moving through the 66 patterns of Drusus Spahda. The Turian martial art emphasized speed and focus, and as he followed the steps marked on the floor he turned and spun. A fist strike, low; a leg hook followed by a backhand strike. Stiffened fingers driving into a phantom larynx. Tahlyn moved and whirled through the set, breathing hard by the time he finished.

Then he moved to the multi-limbed sparring dummy he'd built for himself. Driving his fist into its 'face', he activated it, and stepped back as it swung padded bars at him in a random pattern, advancing with each move. Block, block, strike, his fist struck one of the pressure points and it backed off for a few heartbeats before coming in again. Over and over he fought it off, its combinations getting more and more complex and lengthy as he fought it.

Its program lasted twenty minutes, and by the end Tahlyn was puffing and sweating. He gave it one last half-hearted punch and then turned to head for his cabin, already peeling off his tunic. Time for a shower and a change of clothes.

~tag~
 
She nodded at Tahlyn's instructions, “Yes, sir,” and set their course for Illium, Nos Astra to be exact. Artemis had never been to Illium before, so she was a little excited about their approach, she'd always loved seeing new places, and she heard a lot about Illium. She looked at the Turian as he told her to set the ship to auto pilot, suggesting she grab a nap to be fresh for the coming 'errand' and to warn Bronn about their destination.

Warn him? That her attention, so she just nodded when he took his leave, switching the ship over to auto pilot and getting up, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

She went down to engineering, finding the Krogan easily, “Hey Bronn, is there a reason why the good captain asked me to 'warn' you that we're coming into Nos Astra?” she asked with her brows raised at him. “And, do you know where I'm going to be sleeping? Or should I ask Tahlyn that?” She asked, nodding to the bag hanging off her shoulder, which she set down, since it wasn't the lightest thing ever.

Artemis dug into her bag, pulling out her gummy bears, picking out one of the blue raspberry ones, her favorite, and popping it into her mouth, before offering the opening bag to Bronn in case he wanted one. She had a serious sweet tooth, and it was rare not to see her with a bag of candy in her hand or her pocket for munching.
 
~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

Bronn was breaking down a static damper with a wrench as long as his arm and a set of microwaldos. He didn't turn when she came in, just waved with the wrench, narrowly missing clocking himself in the head.
"Hey Chase," he muttered, then stifled a curse in his native tongue as a contact shorted and sparks flew. "Oww. Dammit!"

Backing up, he tossed the wrench into an open toolbox with a resounding clang and sighed.
"That's going on the shopping list when we get to... wait. What?" He rounded on her and advanced, grasping her shoulders and shaking her. "We were going to Garvug. Why are we coming into Illium?" He let her go, not hearing or not paying attention to her questions about bedding arrangements.

"Nos Astra!? That sneaky bloody Turian... Why didn't you warn me we were going home? I'm not DONE yet!" Bronn pushed past her, heading for his cargo bay. "Sorry, no time for candy, there's too much to do!!" He bustled away, cursing loudly. "Varro?! You can do your own damned maintenance. I'm taking a personal day. Make that a three day pass!" The door to his cargo bay shut on vile imprecations and the sound of things being thrown against the walls.

Tahlyn's laughter, a wicked chortling, came down the hallway as he heard the commotion. Fresh from the shower and dressed in a black jumpsuit, he adjusted his heads-up-display and leaned in the doorway.
"Now that was worth hiring you all on its own." He said with a sharp-toothed grin. "Come on, I'll show you your cabin. The Krogan's going to be busy until planetfall." Chuckling, Tahlyn picked up her duffel and slung it easily onto his shoulder. "It'll be nice to be back in comfortable gravity again. Illium's a bit heavy for you humans, but I grew up on Invictus. Too much time on light worlds and I start to get soft."

Leading her up towards the bow, he keyed open a cabin. It had two double bunk beds , a small bathroom cubicle and lockers set into most of the walls. It looked as though the top bunk beds could fold into the wall and the bottom two could be reconfigured to tables or couches. It did have a porthole though, a window into the black that doubled as a vid display.
"Should be doubling up with Bronn but he doesn't even fit in here. Hope you don't mind tight quarters because I can't spare another cargo bay."

~tag~
 
Chase took a quick step back when the Krogan rounded on her, eyes going wide when he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her,clutching her bag of gummy bears so that the precious contents didn't go spilling all over the place. “What the hell Bronn let me go!” She snapped at him, glaring when he did and rubbing her arm a bit as he left, leaving Artemis standing there with a thoroughly bewildered look on her face. She gave Tahlyn a glare as well when he appeared, “You could have warned me you know,” She muttered, “Told me to be in another room and shout it to him or something.”

She followed him though as he said he'd show her to her cabin, still frowning at his back. Artemis didn't really say much about the gravity on Illium, though she wasn't really looking forward to that. Ellysium had slightly lighter gravity than Earth, so that's what she was used to. She could handle heavier gravity just fine of course, but it wasn't exactly fun feeling heavier than usual.

She followed him into the cabin though, and looked around, laughing a little when Tahlyn spoke of tight quarters. “I grew up with three older brothers, there was no such thing as having your own space, and then in the military they believes in 'spacial optimization', which meant they tried to cram as many of us as they could into as small a space as they could get away with,” She told him, taking her bag from him and setting it on the nearest bottom bunk.

"Now, what in the world is Bronn going on about?" She asked, crossing her arms.
 
~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

"Oh grow up. You made it through Alliance flight school and everything." He was still chuckling as he stood back and let her take a look around the cabin. "Though I figured you'd use the intercom, I'll admit." He sat down on the other bed and leaned back, a bright-eyed smirk on his face. "You, Pilot Chase, have just witnessed that rarest of rare creatures: the lovelorn Krogan."

Scratching at one facial plate, he examined his claws closely.
"Bronn didn't tell you he owns a shop on Illium, did he? Tried to settle down there, a while ago. Managed to get through the bureaucracy and get himself a workshop. A Volus runs it for him, spins off his designs, that sort of thing. Even makes a little money at it. But the best part is that he found himself a girl." Tahlyn chuckled. "He's been chasing after her for a while now. Bouncer in some spaceport bar, I think. Don't ask how they met, the story has got to be a tissue of lies. He hasn't seen her in a good long while, but they do flicker messages back and forth so there must be something there. He'd probably still be in Nos Astra if he didn't need the kind of money only a dishonest living can make to cover his business licenses and lease."

Standing he made a throwaway gesture.
"Ask him to show you his science project sometime. Oh, and grab some rest. I've got the conn for landing. You'll need your sleep if you're coming with me to meet Rowlan." With that cryptic pronouncement Tahlyn turned to go.

~tag~
 
“Well I was getting up anyway,” she shrugged, poking around the room a bit. She'd mess with it later when she had time, but for the moment just sat on the bunk across from Tahlyn, raising her brows as the Turian told her that Bronn was in love. “Do tell,” she said, grabbing her bag of gummy bears and eating a couple while Tahlyn told her about Bronn and his blue lady friend on Illium.

“Huh, interesting,” She said as he finished, smirking a little and shaking her head, “Definitely the most interesting Krogan I've ever met. Not that I've met many.” Artemis shrugged, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her thighs. She watched him stand and give her a vague name drop, her eyes narrowing a bit. “He's not going to try to shake my brain loose too is he?” she tossed after him before flopping back on her bunk. Artemis had a feeling Tahlyn was going to keep her in the dark for his own amusement on a regular basis.

She sighed and kicked off her boots, sitting up after a moment to open her bag, pulling Short Round out and dropping the bag on the floor before wriggling her way onto the bunk a better, curling up with the pillow-shaped panda and trying to get a bit of sleep, she was more tired than she realized and dozed off quickly. The hard part would be waking her back up, but maybe her brain was trying to be on it's behavior with this new job because when the ship's VI chimed and announced that they were nearing Illium, she woke up, rolling out of the bunk with a yawn, running her hands through her hair to straighten it out a bit but not really bothering to clean up before heading back up to the control deck.
 
~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

"He'd be pretty odd if he was human," Tahlyn said with a chuckle. "For a Krogan, I think he's probably crazy. Too much time around aliens, maybe." The Turian shrugged and shook his head. "Rowlan doesn't get physical. Doesn't talk a lot either, for a Salarian. But he's the best linguist I know.. at least the best one I know who's for sale. When we get to Garvug, it'd be nice to be able to do more than just find what we're looking for."

Tahlyn left her to her nap, moving up to the cockpit. Bronn was still locked in his cargo bay, though occasionally the sound of power tools filtered through the ventilation system. When Artemis rose and made her way back up to the control deck, Tahlyn was seated at the controls sipping from a drinking bulb. The smell of coffee filled the room and he looked up from the readouts and stood.
"Want to take the helm for planetfall? We've still got a few minutes to atmosphere." He held up a spare drinking bulb. "This should wake you up. It's an Eden/Kona blend, with a little Turian herbal mixture mixed in." Tahlyn sipped his own as he moved out of the way for her. "You can't metabolize it, but it's not harmful."

Moving to the nav console, Tahlyn got on the comm to Nos Astra spaceport, confirming their docking clearance and then flicking the course to the pilot's display.

~tag~
 
Artemis yawned a little as she walked into the control room, nodding when Tahlyn asked if she wanted to take the helm for the landing, “Sounds good, and that smells good,” she said, taking the drinking bulb from him, her nose perking at the smell of coffee. “Thanks,” she murmured, her free hand rubbing an eye before she sipped at the hot contents. It tasted good, she'd always liked good coffee, though she had never been fond of drinking it black. She sat down in the pilot's chair, taking one last drink of coffee before carefully placing it in the nearby cup holder, which she was glad to have. Didn't have cup holders in a star fighter.

She took the ship off auto pilot and took the controls, listening as Tahlyn got their clearance to land in Nos Astra before she strapped herself in, pressing the comm button, “Hey Bronn, bout to be entering the atmosphere, so don't go doing something delicate for a few minutes,” she told them before releasing the button and beginning their descent. The line between atmosphere and space was clear as the ship shuddered at the transition of leaving the vacuum of space. The edges of the view shield turned red as the hull heated up from the friction of air and gases, but that was normal, to be expected. As was the slight turbulence of passing through some cloud cover, The Harlot shuddering and shaking a little.

Once through the clouds, the blinking lights of Nos Astra were clear below them, and Artemis kept an eye on her navigation and her read outs, she'd never been here before so she was letting the computers show here where to go and how to approach. She brought them into the docks smoothly, if maybe a little over cautious, still trying to figure out the Harlot's Virtue and wary of banging her up.
 
~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

The descent to Nos Astra was smooth and easy, landing on a pad in the sprawling spaceport in the midst of the towering spires of the city. The landing took much less time than Varro dealing with inbound customs, but in a few minutes they were cleared to debark.

Bronn appeared, heavily armed and wearing polished dark blue and grey armour, trimmed in gold. He carried a heavy case in one hand, it was clear and held a half dozen small potted plants. He gave Tahlyn a dirty look, then slapped him on the back of his head and laughed.
"Don't let him out of your sight, Chase. He still hasn't paid me this month." Bronn said. "I'll see you two in a day or so. I've got things to do."

Tahlyn watched the Krogan leave, leaning on the boarding ramp, and chuckled.
"Grab whatever you think you might need. We're going ashore in ten. Rowlan wants to meet in a park, for some reason. Arcology rooftop, private access. He's a little paranoid, wouldn't give me his office's location over the commlines." Turning, he headed for his cabin to change and collect the OSD's he wanted translated. He also made sure to grab his weapons, just in case. Rowlan despised violence, but if he was playing paranoid anything could happen.

~tag~
 
Artemis looked up as Bronn appeared, eying him curiously, especially the plants. What was up with the plants? She didn't ask him though, just nodded at his instruction not to let Tahlyn out of her sight, smirking a little, “I won't,” she promised, waving a bit when he said goodbye and releasing her seat belt so she could stand up. She stretched a little and looked at the Turian as he spoke, nodding a little.

So she went back down to her room, grabbing the pistol she had on loan from Bronn, stuffed a bag of candy into her pocket, and headed back up. That was all she needed in any situation, candy and a gun. “Ready,” she said with a smile. Artemis was a little surprised he wanted her along considering she'd only been around for a day and had already gotten Bronn involved in two fights, him in one. Maybe he wanted to even the score or something. She wasn't going to complain though, she needed this job.
 
~~Tahlyn Varro & Kurrlok Bronn~~

Tahlyn tucked his shotgun away in the breakaway holster on his lower leg, his Shuriken machine-pistol already at home in the shoulder holster beneath his tawny varren-leather jacket.
"Let's go, Miss Chase." He said, stepping down the ramp and through the security scanner at the Port Security checkpoint. Tapping his omni tool, he walked to a nearby pad and summoned them a taxi.

As its hatch slid open, he gestured for her to go first then slid in behind her. The robo-cab took flight, winging its way through the spires of Nos Astra.
"Nice place. Don't sign anything while you're here. Slavery and indentured servitude are legal, the bureaucracy's so thick it takes a hull cutter to get through and the violent crime statistics have been going up about 2% per cycle for years." Tahlyn dug in his jacket pocket and came out with a pack of cigarettes, Eden Site Sevens. He shook one out without thinking and lit it with a spark from his omni-tool. His violet eyes closed as he drew in the first deep breath of smoke. "But the scenery's good, the music and artistic scene is better than the Citadel and there are some great restaurants if you know where to look."

The Turian took another drag on his cigarette and sighed.
"I should be a little more honest than I'm being. I do want some backup around when I'm dealing with Rowlan. He's not the type to doublecross, but there are other people hunting the same thing I am." He smiled a sharp-toothed smile. "Besides, it's a chance to get to know my new employee outside the working environment. We might even make it back without anyone getting shot at." The irony dripped from every word.

~tag~
 
Artemis followed Tahlyn out, climbing into the taxi when it arrived and he gestured for her to go ahead. She sat looking out the window for a long moment, her eyes darting about, trying to see everything at once. It was the biggest city she'd ever seen. Except maybe the Citadel, but that was different. That was a floating impossible, not a city built by engineering hands. It was impressive, to say the least. She looked at Tahlyn when he spoke but glanced continually towards the view out the window.

“Yeaaah,” she breath, “learned my lesson about signing things.” She laughed a bit. Last thing she needed was to sign something else and end up a slave or indentured servant. That would be just great. Nos Astra sounded like a place you definitely had to keep your wits about you, between the bureaucratic predators and the actual criminals, though she'd rather take on some one trying to mug her than some one trying to trap her in legal slavery. At least you could shoot the mugger.

She glanced at him as he lit up a cigarette, trying not to wrinkle her nose at the smell. She didn't want to seem like some overly sensitive whiner or something, she'd just always detested the smell of cigarette smoke and ash. She was a bit girl though, she'd just suck it up. Artemis looked back to the window as he mentioned the music and art scene and the restaurants, “Sounds pretty cool.” She told him, meaning it, she got the impression that they might not have time to explore much this trip though. Ah well, some other time. Not like she had the money to do anything anyway.

Artemis looked at him though as he talked about the little trip they were talking, being a little more upfront with her for a change, nodding a little. She gave a short, snort of laugh, “Yeah, sure we will.” She told him with a grin, her tone the highest order of sarcasm. She shrugged though, “Well, at least you already know I'm good in fight. Better than taking some one that might wuss out on you.” Silver linings, right?
 
~~Tahlyn Varro~~

He looked up from his reverie as the taxi banked westwards. Chuckling at Artemis' laughter, he stubbed out the cigarette and disposed of it.
"You walked out of a field trip with Bronn, I'd say you can handle yourself. In fact, that might not be a bad way to vet crewmembers in future: anyone who can hold their own on a night out with the Krogan gets to stay." The thought amused him and he started to reach for another cigarette, stopped himself and replaced the pack before taking one. "Sorry, bad habit. Bronn's not the only one who's been away from home picking up bad habits." The taxi banked again, slowing and spiraling down to a broad arcology rooftop. Tahlyn swiped a credchip through and the door slid open for them.

The Arcology's roof must have been a few hundred meters on every side, and at least half seemed to be taken up with a sprawling park that curled, rose and fell. A stream from a large pond on one end fell several meters over its course, including a pair of waterfalls, to feed a larger pond against the edge of the building, penned in by translucent diamond that gave the fish a view of the Nos Astra skyline. Trees and flower beds from a dozen worlds, all carefully sculpted and manicured, filled the blue-green grass with a riot of colours. Many of the plants were luminous, and the soft glow of overhead lamps was tuned to complement the various shades. A winding path twisted and turned through the park, widening here and there into little areas where benches sat. Some of them had stalls with vendors selling food or trinkets.

"Huh," Tahlyn looked about and nodded for her to follow him. "Lot of work to make something look so fake." His eyes were moving, and he kept turning from side to side as he walked along the path. Vainly looking for sightlines and possible threats. The whole park seemed to have been laid out with privacy in mind, because once they were on the path it was impossible to see more than a dozen meters in any direction and it was obviously making the Turian edgy.

~tag~
 
Artemis laughed a little at his suggestion that he screen future crew members on whether or not they could survive an outing with Bronn. If that were the case she supposed she had passed. She let out a small sigh, beginning to allow herself to feel a little more secure about this job. She'd honestly kept waiting for Tahlyn to recant his offer and she'd be back out of the job, looking for work wherever she could take it. She knew she could find work here, but from what he told her, she'd almost rather take her chances on Omega. She'd rather die fighting than be a slave, never. She would never let that happen to her.

She shrugged though at his apology about the bad habit he had, “My dad smoked, so did my brothers. Mom hates it, she's a physician, kind of a reverse hypochondriac you know? Loves telling you how all the things you do increase your risk of cancer and all many of disorders and diseases.” Artemis rolled her eyes a little, “She got the last laugh though, Dad stopped after a cancer scare. I never picked up the habit myself though, smoke gives me headaches.” Her two remaining brothers still smoked, removed from the direct influence of their mother's health-conscience onslaught.

She followed Tahlyn out of the taxi and into the building, walking just behind him but staying at his elbow. Her hand hovered close to the pistol strapped to her thigh. The building was stylish, frankly she thought it was rather beautiful, so she shrugged at Tahlyn's gruff assessment of the place. She didn't like it as a meeting place though, and she could see the Turian was on edge as she followed him down the path. It fed into her own apprehension, until her fingertips were touching her pistol lightly, ready to draw it at the first sign of trouble. She really didn't feel like getting into another fire fight, but she'd fight if one came to them. Artemis didn't know how to back down.
 
~~Tahlyn Varro~~

"I got the habit working for some human mercs, they needed biotic support and I was handy. We were on this moon, the atmosphere had a lot of fungal particulates and spores. Their medic came up with some scrubber nano that was heat activated. Put it in cigarettes to help clean the stuff out of our lungs." He grimaced at the memories, then relaxed and looked over at her. "By the time we finished the contract and I moved on, I picked up the habit. You know, tobacco's worse for Turians than it is for you humans. But if I wanted to live forever I should have been born Asari."

As they moved through the park, he tried not to seem so on edge. Even so, he was glad that he'd invested in a Serrice Council Amp a while back. When you wanted the very best in fine control and response, there wasn't anywhere else to look.
"Well, this looks like the spot," Tahlyn announced as they stood by a little pool of water surrounded by flat rocks. Lily pads floated around a large rock in the center and some low, purplish ferns surrounded the edges. "No sign of Rowlan though."

"No, there wouldn't be." The clipped sounds of a Salarian voice reached their ears. "You brought a human, Varro. Was expecting that Krogan. Disappointed. I don't like surprises." A soft 'bleep' sound and a blur of movement and a tall, lean figure could be seen standing on the boulder in the middle of the pond. He wore a white and grey trenchcoat-like garment and had a Kuwashii visor on the right side of his head. His hands were folded behind his back and his tan-pink face was set in a hard expression. "She can be trusted. Former Alliance military. Eden born? Seems likely. Pilot, well you've needed one. Sweet tooth, hope she brushes regularly. New guns, not quite used to the grip yet. Bronn's work, distinctive decoration. Recommend mandatory range time, simulated firefight training. That model takes a minimum of four point three seconds to cycle between heat sinks."

The Salarian hopped across the small pond and landed on the grass, brushing past the ferns and approaching. Nodded to Tahlyn and then turned and looked Artemis up and down again.
"Rowlan Bayhr, Private Investigator." He extended his right hand to shake. If he was armed, there was no overt sign of it. He had a multitool but that seemed to be all.

~tag~
 
“Better than the human reason of 'oh I don't know, everyone else was doing it',” Artemis shrugged. Seemed like most people she met who smoked had picked up the habit out of some sort of social pressure. That was likely the reason she'd never bothered, considering she'd never given a flying fuck what people thought of her and whether or not they liked her. If they didn't, well they could jog on, if they did, then she'd share her candy with them.

Artemis looked around as Tahlyn announced they were where they were supposed to be, looking at the pond they were standing next to. She'd always liked water, and watched the lily pads floating for a moment, thinking that this wouldn't be a bad place to come and just sit around in with a book or something. She hadn't had the time to read in what felt like years, maybe because it had been years. She looked up quickly though at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, putting her weight back on one foot, not quite a step back but almost, her hand instinctively pressing against the grip of her pistol.

She blinked a bit when the Salarian shimmered into view, standing on one of the rocks in the pond. Artemis glanced at Tahlyn, brows raised, and tried to relax when he didn't seem alarmed. She supposed this was Rowlan, well, at least she wasn't in danger of being shaken after all. Her brows went up even higher when he gave his assessment of her, trying not to wonder how the hell he could tell all that about her. Salarian brains boggled her, she'd given up trying to understand them a long time ago. She'd known a fair few of them on Elysium and it just made being around them a lot easier if you weren't constantly trying to figure them out. She knew people who didn't like them because they were so intelligent, as if they took that as an insult or a challenge. Artemis didn't, she was smart enough she supposed, but she knew she wasn't a genius. She was secure in that.

She looked at the Salarian as he approached, and gave him a smirk when he extended his hand in greeting, shaking it, “Artemis Chase. And I'm from Elysium, not Eden Prime.” She informed him with a smile.
 
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