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

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

"Don't mind the Salarian. Told you he was in a paranoid phase." Tahlyn said in a tired tone as he watched Rowlan approach. He was utterly unphased by the Salarian's antics.
"A wise sophont once said that paranoia is simply being possessed of all the facts," Rowlan said primly. "I am pleased to meet you, Artemis Chase. Elysium. Of course. Lower gravity than Illium, but your Alliance training and service will have been in one standard human gee. I failed to take that into account in my deductions." He smiled thinly, nodding his head and touching his visor in salute.

"Are you finished with the theatrics?" Tahlyn rolled his eyes and turned in a slow circle, obviously not happy with the close quarters. Rowlan saw the motion and tilted his head.
"Concealment seemed more valuable than a pleasant view. I have thirty-seven different sensor systems distributed throughout the park that will warn me of any intruders. You are currently the only visitors wearing armour or carrying more than two heat sinks. You and a lone Krogan are the only ones carrying military grade weaponry, and I have observed him here regularly in the past. I believe his is courting an Asari merchant." The Salarian quirked his brow. "While it is possible that this is merely a cover, I judge the possibility to be below twelve percent."

Tahlyn reached into his jacket and removed something, but Rowlan raised a hand first.
"Before I accept this contract, you should understand that I have been offered a significant sum to pass on this information you wish translated to a third party without examining it. I have refused, but the price for my services must unfortunately increase." Tahlyn growled and those violet eyes began to glow bluish, but Rowlan merely continued. "There are fewer than thirty known experts in Prothean Military Encryption protocols working outside of government auspices. Of those, nearly a third may be subornable by the Shadow Broker. The rest are vulnerable to threats, bribery or more subtle forms of coercion. I am your only choice, Tahlyn."

Her captain took a step back and folded his arms across his chest, looking decidedly unhappy.
"You're the only choice who won't shop me to someone else, you mean." Tahlyn said, and then countered with a sly look. "I'm also the only one with a puzzle this complex. If you push your prices too high, I'll just have to take my chances with someone less reliable. You can have twenty percent over what we agreed, or I'll have to try Hanar Elrannai and take my chances."
"Hmm... thirty percent over, not a penny less. Half now, half in three days. If I have not made the translation by then, I will return the disc and you may keep the balance of the payment."

Tahlyn passed over the disc and loaded a credchip with the required amount before handing it over.
"Alright, but at least give me this much: who offered to buy the data from you on condition that you not open it?" Varro stroked his chin with his fingers and waited while Rowlan checked the money and the OSD.
"The individual was a turian mercenary, but his name is not what interests you. You wish to know his ultimate employer." Rowlan touched his omni-tool and called up a holo-image. It was a human male, asiatic, with a harsh high-and-tight crewcut and a thin moustache. He wore a dark civilian suit but a military air clung to him.

The reaction from Tahlyn was instant and obvious: anger and frustration. He spat a curse in Turian and shook his head as Rowlan stepped back and touched his visor again.
"Two sky-cars carrying Eclipse mercenaries have just arrived on the rooftop, at the northeast and southwest corners. They are deploying as we speak." He took a step backwards and shimmered into invisibility. "I will contact you in three days. Good luck Tahlyn Varro, and to you, Artemis Chase."

With that he was gone and Tahlyn was looking around wildly. He hadn't bothered to draw a weapon, but Rowlan's timing and information had obviously shaken him.
"So... you've had your gunfight for the week... how do you feel about running, with a name like Chase?"

~tag~

OOC: The Colonel, so you have an idea.

 

[Atroxa]

“Pleasure to meet you too,” She told him, but just gave a good-natured shrug at the Salarian's words on not taking her training into account in his deductions, “Hey, we all make mistakes,” she said, giving him a light salute back, obviously amused. She liked Rowlan. She fell silent though as Tahlyn and the Salarian got down to business, listening curiously. Prothean technology? How in the great blue had Tahlyn gotten a hold of information about Prothean technology? Artemis was beginning to wonder what she'd gotten herself involved in with all this, listening to the two aliens haggle a bit over prices and chances taken elsewhere before striking a deal.

Money and items were exchanged and Artemis that spending a few days exploring Nos Astra sounded like a good idea to her. Her attention returned though to the conversation at hand when Tahlyn asked who it was that had tried to buy the data. His reaction made it clear that he knew the man in the holo, she bit back a witty question, deciding that that might not be a good move right now. Before she could form a more careful way of asking the man's identity though, Rowlan informed them that they had company under way.

She watched the Salarian disappear and looked back to Tahlyn with a sigh, “So much for not getting shot at.” Artemis said with a wry smile. She gave a short laugh at his suggestion of retreat rather than trying to stay and fight a group of mercs, and the quip about her name, “I bet you get all the ladies with wit like that.” She told him, “And I'm fine with running, after you.”

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

"Oh, what's life without risk?" Tahlyn asked at Artemis' wry smile. "There is a silver lining, though: we haven't worked out a payscale yet, so I don't have to worry about hazard bonuses or combat pay." His chuckle was dry and wicked as he began to cut right through the park.

"Ladies? My engineer gets more action than I do." His chuckle turned into a laugh as he led them through a line of shrubs and into a relatively open area. There was no sign of Eclipse troops yet, but from the worried sounds and barked commands they could hear in the distance it wouldn't be long. "Right now I'll bet he's having a wonderful time with Lyssus, and we're ducking... down!" He shoved her flat as a trio of Eclipse soldiers turned a corner and saw them.
"That's him. Open fire!" The voice was electrically scrubbed, hard to tell if it was a male or a female much less which species, though from their silhouettes they were probably human.

The chuffing sounds of riot control rifles and the wet 'thwuck' sounds of tangler rounds striking objects around them. As he was rolling away from a splatter of the greenish gel, Tahlyn gestured and his body was limned in blue. A bench lifted and was flung towards the approaching mercenaries, bowling them over.
"Alright," he said with a grin as he helped Artemis up and pointed towards the eastern edge. "I have a plan for getting us off the roof, but we need to get to that pond. Any ideas?" A tangler round hit a tree trunk nearby and several strands of the gel stuck on his right arm, slowing him down for a few seconds while he pulled free of the sticky goo.

Tahlyn didn't mention what his plan was. He had a pretty good idea that it wasn't going to be popular.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

“Like hell you don't!” Artemis laughed. Hazard pay would be nice, if she remained alive long enough to enjoy it anyway. “I should at least get a steak dinner for my trouble,” She followed Tahlyn through the park, her head on a swivel, turning every which way to try and keep an eye out for trouble. The layout of the park made that difficult though.

“Ah come on, handsome face like yours?” she chuckled, thinking in the back of her mind that maybe now wasn't the time for joking exchanges but since when did she listen to that little voice in the back of her head? Never, that's when. She saw the Eclipse soldiers about the time they saw her and Tahlyn, her green eyes going wide and mouthing opening to get Tahlyn's attention but he'd already seen them as well and Artemis let out a grunt as he shoved her down.

She was a little surprised to hear the sounds of riot gear rather than bullet fire, and she scrambled a bit to get away from the green gel, filling the air with an acidic smell. Thankfully she had a biotic with her and once the Eclipse troops were incapacitated she sat up, blinking a bit, “Well they're not trying to kill us,” She shrugged, “But somehow the thought of being captured is much more appealing.”

Artemis accepted the help up and her eyes followed the line of her captain's talon, eyeing the pond he mentioned. She gave an exasperated sigh though at his question. First Bronn now Tahlyn, was she going to have to think of everything? “Damnit Tahlyn, I'm a pilot not a tactician!”

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

"We'll discuss combat pay later. Combat first, THEN pay." Tahlyn vaulted a bench and dove flat, heading for the stream. There were other teams converging on them, and not all of them were carrying riot launchers. Short bursts of fire were beginning to crack past them. Not aimed, but herding them away from cover.

Throwing up a biotic barrier just in time to block a sizzling Cryo blast before it struck, the Turian gave her a look.
"I think I'd rather they were. Never been on the wrong end of an interrogation, have you? Doesn't Alliance do counter-intel training?" Tahlyn gritted his teeth as the barrier began to spark and shiver as more Eclipse troops focused fire on it.

It shattered and he rolled aside, his shield glowing from impacts.
"Take a deep breath." One arm wrapped around Artemis' waist and he activated his biotic abilities to charge them twenty meters down towards an ornamental waterfall. Two more steps and he leapt towards the edge, carrying them over it and dropping them out of sight in the pond below.

It was more than waist deep for the Turian, and he swept his shotgun up and began to sweep the edge as he backed up, lilypads and seaweed swirling around his legs.
"Keep backing up and try to stay close to me so I can shield us both. Another barrier went up and she heard Tahlyn grunt as a tangler bundle smacked into it and slid down into the water. Behind them, the glass edge of the pond looked out over the spires of Nos Astra.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis followed after Tahlyn, keeping up and staying close. She flinched away as a cryo blast came sizzling at them, forgetting for a moment that the Turian had barrier abilities. She wasn't a biotic or used to working with one, so it wasn't really in her thinking paths. She frowned and rolled her eyes a bit at his question about counter-intel training, “Well yeah, but that doesn't mean I particularly wanted to be interrogated. I like it rough but torture's not really my thing.”

She became slightly concerned as his shields obviously began to take a toll from the constant impacts, so she wasn't surprised when it shattered. She rolled when he did, her own shields shimmering as they took a few hits. But when he told her to take a deep breath she just blinked, eyes going a bit wide, “What-” she didn't get to finish her question before he'd wrapped an arm around her waist and she clung to him out of reflex as they rocketed forward, gritting her teeth nervously.

Then they were going over the ornamental waterfall and landed with a splash in the pond below. Artemis sputtered a bit when she surfaced, wiping water and wet hair out of her eyes. The water almost came up to her chest and she waded a bit to stay with Tahlyn, nodding at his instructions. But when she looked at the glass barrier of the pond, overlooking the city, her eyes widened. “This is your plan?” She snapped at him, just as the glass shattered.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

As the glass shattered, the water began to drain, pulling at them. Tahlyn turned and swept his shotgun around, firing rapidly, blowing the hole wider until the torrent was dragging them off their feet and tens of thousands of liters of water were pouring over the edge and into the emptiness four hundred stories below.

"Women! You're never happy!" Tahlyn laughed as he dove towards her and swept her right off her feet, angling for the cataract before all the water was gone. "You complain when I ask for ideas. You complain when *I* make the plan." Then they were in freefall, wind and water whipping around them. Artemis had a view of a brightly coloured fish flapping in midair as though it could learn to fly. "Alright, I'll try again... I got us off the roof, any bright ideas? Four hundred some stories... we've got about fifteen seconds." Tahlyn managed to roll in midair, looking at her with a wild light in those violet eyes.

"You're the pilot, right? Ten seconds." He grinned as the street below loomed up at them, bright neon lights whipping past as they plummeted through a traffic lane hastily vacated by the cascade of falling water.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis instinctively took a step back as the water started pulling at her, “This is a bad idea! Just so you know!” She growled at him before he dove at her and scooped her up, rolling her eyes at his words before they were swept out the hole in the glass. Then they were falling, Artemis' red hair whipping behind her, and she didn't look nearly so amused as the Turian. If it weren't for all her training in ditching a downed aircraft, she'd probably be far more disconcerted. As it were though, her body assumed that carefully splayed position to keep herself stable, and she just glared at Tahlyn.

“What do you want me to do? Pull a ship out of my ass?” She shouted over the wind, looking down at the quickly approaching street.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

Tilting himself, Tahlyn angled over until he caught her, scooping her up with his right arm. His left he pushed out ahead of them as his biotic mass effect field activated and they began to slow. Gritting his teeth, Tahlyn pushed down, countering their momentum until they were falling no faster than a feather.

When they touched the ground thirty or so seconds later, he fell to his hands and knees and vomited.
"Ugggrrrrhhh... voidspite I hate doing that." He looked around dazed at the damp street and the splattered fish. "Did we make it? Is my head still attached?"

Slowly, Varro clambered to his feet, stumbling once as he did. One hand clasped his head and he shuddered from head to toe for a moment, then laughed weakly.
"So, how's that for a night out on the town?"

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis let Tahlyn get his right arm around her, her own left arm going around him in return but her right arm stayed out, trying to stabilize them a bit. She watched nervously as their descent began to slow, glancing between the ground and a very uncomfortable looking Turian. When they finally touched the ground and Tahlyn practically collapsed she knelt beside him, though she was careful to avoid the vomit. “Jeez are you alright?” She asked him, tone concerned.

She laughed a little at his question, though she still looked worried, “Head still intact, thick skull and all,” She told him, standing when he got to his feet. Artemis moved to put her arm around Tahlyn, supporting him since she didn't think she particularly felt like trying to pick him back up if he fell. “You definitely know how to show a girl a night she'll never forget,” She told him with a laugh, then glared at him, “That being said, drop me out the side of a building 400 stories up with no warning again and I will find a way to hurt you.”

She sighed, “Come on, we should get you back to the Harlot.” She really hoped the distances in jumps didn't continue to increase. First there'd been the twenty foot drop with Bronn now this, she didn't think about what scenario would happen to try and trump 400 stories.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

He stumbled again as he leaned on her, looking around warily. His head was pounding and there were spots in front of his eyes but he didn't think he'd blown out his implant.
"Alright? Yeah. Migraine and some aches... everywhere." He coughed. "But aside from the taste in my mouth, I think I'll survive." Looking up at the spire arcology above them, he almost fell over backwards. "Been a while since I had to do that, I'll admit. Think that might be a Cabal record for freefall."

Tahlyn laughed with her, shaking his head.
"It worked though, and no one got shot. I've got enough enemies without adding Eclipse to the list. I'd rather I was just a paycheck and not a grudge." Adjusting his jacket, he shrugged his shoulders, dripping on the ground. "Glad you're not too big. Fifty kilos? Not much more, anyways. No way I could have done that with Bronn. Mind you, he's got some kind of Omni-chute thing for that kind of emergency." The Turian was obviously a little light-headed as they moved along.

Then she mentioned getting back and he gripped her shoulder.
"No, we're not heading back. They knew to come looking here, they might know to watch the Harlot. We need to keep a low profile for a while. We'll go get something to eat and hide out somewhere public for a while, then we can go and check to see if they're at the ship. One ambush a night is my limit. If they're on to the Virtue we'll step back and hook up with Bronn." Tahlyn looked at her and glanced up. "There's a public com down the block, get us a cab? Don't call Bronn though. He's going to be busy and we've got enough problems without an irate mechanic. An irate, well-armed mechanic." Pulling away and leaning against the wall, Tahlyn looked up. He was surprised no one else had tried the freefall. It wasn't that unknown a technique, and the Turian Cabals had to have learned it from somewhere. Then again, maybe they weren't enough of a threat to rate biotic support.

That would be nice. Cheap enemies were the best kind.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

“Well congratulations,” Artemis rolled her eyes, and gripping him a bit more tightly when he almost fell backwards. “But a lady never tells her weight.” She walked carefully with him, keeping an eye on him as he seemed light-headed and a little unsteady. Her hair was a mess, having gotten wet and then partially dried during their free fall.

She sighed though when he said they weren't going back to the Harlot. She hadn't thought about that. So she just nodded at his request that she call them a cab, but not to call Bronn, laughing a little. “Oh I don't know, I think he might have enjoyed a 400 story free fall, but maybe not,” she shrugged and helped him lean against the wall before walking over to the comm hub near by.

She called a cab in for them before returning to Tahlyn, “So where are we going? Do I get that steak dinner?” Artemis joked, waggling her eye brows before she fished in her pocket and pulled out a bag full of water and jelly beans. She looked crest fallen for a moment, letting out a heavy sigh and walking over to a trash can, dropping the bag inside. About then she caught her reflection in the window of a shop and let out an annoyed sort of snort, starting to run her fingers through her hair, “Oh for crying out loud.”

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

"Uh huh," he grunted, "and a gentleman never scans her to find out for sure." He did smirk when she mentioned Bronn enjoying the free fall. "He just might. He did say something about building combat drop pods for orbital deployment when he was with Blue Sun. I thought it was a joke. The Krogan never said anything about testing them either."

Tahlyn watched her as she called the cab and then discovered her goodie bag was soaking wet.
"Yeah, I'm thinking somewhere with laundry and hot showers, I think I've got some pond muck wedged in some uncomfortable places." Rolling his shoulders he tugged at the neckline of his skintight tunic and tapped at his head frills irritably. Digging with finger and thumb he extracted a chunk of seaweed from the back of his head and looked at it rather disappointedly.

When the cab arrived a few moments later, luckily before Eclipse managed to regroup and get their act together, Tahlyn climbed in and punched in an address.
"So how's exciting Nos Astra? Enjoying your first visit to scenic Illium?" He grinned and then looked guilty. "Sorry, Chase. Not really the best first week on the job, is it? I expect by the end of it you'll either be wanted for crimes against the Citadel or headed for home with half the mercs in the Terminus chasing you." Tahlyn smiled and then reached out and clasped her arm. "I wasn't expecting that kind of opposition, but I wasn't expecting the Colonel to know I was coming here."

He leaned forward and clasped his hands.
"When we get to a hotel, I'll give you the story and you can decide whether you want to stay on board or hop on a commercial transport to anywhere else. I'll pay your ticket. Just... not first class. I've got limited cash at the moment, if Rowlan's going to squeeze me. But if you stay I can give you your Alliance pay grade plus room and board... and bonuses if and when we make any money. Breakdown is like this: I get three shares, you and Bronn both get one." He smiled. "But I make the split before expenses, assuming my girl doesn't take any damage that won't buff out." Tahlyn finished with a sigh and leaned back again, waiting to see how she would respond. He wouldn't blame her for jumping ship. They didn't have any agreement... but he was going to need a pilot. A good pilot, better than he was anyways.

She'd have to be shit hot if they were going to make it in and out of Garvug.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis made a face, giving up on her hair, which she'd pulled a couple pieces of seaweed out of it by now, “Shower sounds nice...” She sighed, tossing the last piece aside. They looked pretty miserable, and now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she was starting to feel a little miserable. Cold, wet, hungry, and a little tired. She was relieved when the cab finally arrived, even more relieved that the Eclipse mercs hadn't caught up to them before it could.

She climbed in, grimacing a little at how it was even more uncomfortable to sit in wet clothes than it was to stand in wet clothes, and let out a bit of a mournful sigh. She looked at Tahlyn though when he spoke, laughing a little, “Oh yeah, loved it,” she answered sarcastically. Artemis sighed again though as the guilty look on his face and his apology, shrugging her shoulders a little. She glanced at his hand on her arm, and quirked her brows at mention of the Colonel, opening her mouth to ask who he was and why Tahlyn had reacted the way he had. And she wanted to know about this information he was getting from Rowlan, but he explained that he'd tell her when they got to the hotel. So she just nodded a bit.

But she gave him a wry smile as he gave her the option to leave if she wanted, but told her the points for staying as well. “Nah, I like you and Bronn, besides I could get myself into that kind of trouble on my own, it's much more fun as a group,” She grinned a bit, then sighed, “Seriously though, I don't want to leave. Dangerous situations don't bother me, that's not why I left the Alliance. I just... didn't feel right staying.” She didn't know Tahlyn well enough to tell him her reasons for leaving the Alliance, and she didn't think he'd really care to hear them. “So until a better reason comes along to leave, you've got yourself a pilot,” she told him, holding out her hand to shake on it, “And a damn good one if I might add.”

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

His sour look twisted up into a smirk at Artemis' own sarcastic response.
"It IS nice having backup now and then. Gets kind of dull having no one to bitch to when you get shot at." Tahlyn rubbed at his forehead and winced again. "Glad you don't mind a little excitement, because we are going to need a hell of a pilot before this is done. Once we get Rowlan's translations, we're headed for Garvug."

The Turian looked at her and his face turned serious.
"Krogan colony world in the Paz system. Used to be habitable, but the Krogan colonists didn't do it any favours. Between the galacticorps, the feral varren, the pirates, the local Krogan and the Vorcha packs it makes a pretty exciting vacation spot." He touched his omni-tool and called up a display of the planetary map. "But it does have some interesting sights to see. Like Prothean ruins and pre-Krogan Asari research facilities. Ones that have been abandoned for a thousand years or more, and that are now guarded by local Krogan, Vorcha, Pirates, Varren and mineral extraction corps that are busy sucking the planet dry of everything the Krogan didn't use up already." He killed the image and flipped his hand dismissively. "But it's the place we're going next, because it's the next link up the chain."

The cab slid to a stop in the taxi-port of a mid-range hotel. Probably more than Tahlyn could really afford, but anything cheaper would have bad security. This place contracted with Elanus Risk Control Services, and they weren't likely to let Eclipse just waltz on in and grab them. It took him a few moments to get a room and the Salarian behind the counter gave them a dubious look for their still-soggy appearance and the smell of pond mud and vegetable matter that hung about them, but ten minutes later they were closing the door of a single suite with a real shower and a view of downtown Nos Astra's Lisistrata Boulevard. The lights of the hotels, casinos and exclusive apartment arcologies lit the night.

Tahlyn didn't care about the view, he was already on the comm to room service, ordering food and laundry service.
"Laundry for two, as quickly as possible, and dinner. Hmm? Oh, a double order of Turian veltethna. No, salad's fine. Illian sapphire pundi and lots of shriiv. Chase, you wanted a steak? Let them know what you'd like. Go mad, it's on me." He looked up at Chase, plucking items from his pockets and setting them down on a table against the wall: shotgun, machine-pistol, pouches of heat sinks, a short, wicked-looking hummer-knife, omni-tool, comm-bead, a pair of coins, a stack of OSD's, a Kuwashii visor folded up, a set of two-fingered power-knuckles, an Alliance special forces model mono-garotte reel and a few little electronic trinkets.


When Artemis had ordered, he gestured at the bathroom.
"You can grab the shower first. Robes should be in there. I'm going to give Bronn a call on Lyssus' commline. They probably won't have tapped that. Be sure to empty your pockets before you get in the shower, and toss your clothes out the door. Room service says they can have them cleaned and pressed in two hours or we can take them down the hall and do it ourselves. I'd rather let them do the work while we eat and talk. If you're going to stay, you need to know as much as I can tell you." Tahlyn stripped off his jacket and began untabbing his tunic. As he peeled the armoured, skintight garment off, Artemis could see extensive scars. Two of his carapace plates were missing, low on his left side. Replaced with ugly weals of paler grey flesh. Others were deeply scratched or showed the signs of being broken and healing. Under his shirt he also had a second knife, the sheath fixed directly to a hollow space on his carapace beneath his right arm. The spot under his left arm had a small pouch tucked into place.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis grinned a bit, “Well, I did graduate top of my class from flight academy...” She offered with a touch of pride. She was a damn good pilot, one of the best in fact, but those Alliance credentials hadn't seemed to help her much out here in the Terminus systems.

She gave him a curious look though as he once again mentioned the translations, about to ask about them but he told her about Garvug instead. Artemis gave a sigh and a roll of her eyes, “Sounds like we're going to get shot at again,” She said as she eyed the display of the planet before it winked out sight. He called it the 'next link up the chain', she supposed he meant the chain of clues he was following, once again though before she could ask about it she was interrupted, this time by their arrival to the hotel.

She was glad it wasn't a hole in the wall, having gotten tired of staying in those since she'd left Council space, but she would have taken even that if it meant a shower and clean clothes. Even if they did have to convince the Salarian running the place to give them a room. Artemis just stood aside while Tahlyn talked to him, feeling increasingly uncomfortable in her slowly drying clothes. So once she was up in their room she was eager to get out of them, but not before ordering something to eat. Every hungry, Artemis was glad to order some food. She took Tahlyn's place at the comm, “Yes, what's your steak from?... Never had it but okay, medium rare... do you have mashed potatoes? … Awesome, I'll take a side of those and what do you have for dessert? … Okay, I'll have a Thessian sundae then. That's it... yep... thanks.”

She turned off the comm and watched with mild amusement as Tahlyn emptied his pockets, pulling her pistol and it's holster off her leg to set it aside on the night stand. Next came her books, making a face as they squelched softly at being removed, and then her socks, making a face at the sensation of removing them. Artemis paused when she saw Tahlyn's body, obviously one that had been put through the ringer a few times, but she tried not to stare, though it was the first time getting a look at Turian's body up close. She peeled off her own shirt, the military having removed most of her sense of modesty. They'd done away with gender segregation in most areas, and she'd shared a locker room and showers with both men and women through her military career. Artemis's body was streamlined and toned, dotted with scars of her own, though most of those were from a childhood following her brothers around and having to be twice as rough and tumble to keep up. The most notable thing though was her tattoos, the two on her biceps, one being the Alliance crest, and the other a celtic-style knotwork sun, with a dara knot in the center. Her back though was almost entirely covered by a phoenix, wings spread and head reared in a cry, wrapped in flames.

She glanced at the bathroom though when he mentioned a shower and the robes, starting to pull off her pants as she walked in, removing the rest of her clothing in there to pull on a robe, tossing Tahlyn one as well, before padding barefoot to deposit her clothes to be cleaned.

“Well you can tell me all about it after we've both gotten showers because I feel gross and you smell gross and I'm sure I do too,” she told him. She told him before she disappeared into the bathroom, getting the shower running and to the right temperature before she climbed in, letting out a loud, relieved sigh as the clean water washed the grime off her. Artemis tried not to take too long though, sure that Tahlyn was ready to get all the muck and grime off him as well, and climbed back out to wrap herself back in her robe, walking out of the bathroom with a towel in her hands, drying her hair with it.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

His eyes glanced over once as she slipped out of her shirt, then he turned and looked more closely at the flaming bird spread out triumphantly across her back. He'd seen tattoos before but never anything so elaborate and attractive.
"Huh," Tahlyn mused, looking away again. "And my people think yours are barefaced. They need to take a longer look. And you might know know this but humans actually smell pretty good to Turians. Not that different from a prey animal back home on Palaven, the Yorrik. Most humans smell good enough to eat." He chuckled and moved over to check his possessions and make sure the water hadn't done any damage while he waited for her to shower.

Picking up the robe she'd tossed him, he nodded and slipped past her, closing the bathroom door. A few moments later the faint sounds of running water and the lyrics to Mi Krivataro, a Turian Song-Drama came through the sealed plas portal. Tahlyn obviously had the Turian knack of being able to sing in harmony with himself.
"Myila krosar Viitsima... Tivayeh darr kri solayh daar..Timayeh darr eh viitsimaaaahhhh"

He came out wrapped in the robe and looking faintly ridiculous in the fluffy white garment trimmed in iridescent blue, and still singing to himself.
"Aaaaahhh Iyaa vita! Lestero! Lestero! Viiiyiii Kri!" Tahlyn chuckled and grinned as he finished the aria and glanced over. "Food not here yet?" Looking around he saw that it wasn't and went over to his little pile of belongings, pulling out a tube and shaking several pills into his mouth, dry-swallowing them.

"Now, explanations... get comfortable because it's a long one." He sat down himself, staking out one end of a couch that seemed carved out of a block of memoryfoam and that countoured itself to him visibly as he leaned forward, elbows on his knees and his chin resting on his knuckles. "Two years ago I was on Noveria and I came across something while going through a researcher's apartment. I left just ahead of Blue Suns, got paid and then took some time to look at what I'd found. This researcher was an expert in Prothean technoglyphs, and he'd been working on translating technical manuals picked up during the Vigil Pacification. You remember, just before the Praesidium went public about the Conduit. Well, one of them was interesting enough for him to hang onto it. He was interested in rumours about the Reapers, and was doing research into recovered Geth corpses, trying to download and analyze their code. He picked up some fragments, and he'd pieced together enough to start believing in these 'Old Machines'."

Tahlyn leaned back a little and shrugged.
"He found some convincing evidence that there were other groups of Prothean survivors than just the ones on Vigil who built the conduit. Logs and vague descriptions of other projects with the same aims of defeating the Reapers." He smiled a predatory smile, "the kind of thing that can be worth an awful lot to the right people... or two in the back of the head before being kicked out the airlock to the wrong ones."

"That's what I'm following. A breadcrumb trail to one of these Prothean projects. I've found a few hard clues so far, some of them pointing different places, but three point to Garvug. It's been a marginal world for at least thirty thousand years, but it used to be a lot more habitable and from what I'm reading it was the site of a number of Prothean facilities that are now buried under the glaciers. Rowlan is translating a disc that should have the location of one of the largest. The Asari found it in their early spacefaring days but the discoveries petered out and it's been mostly forgotten." He stood up as there came a knock at the door, letting a young looking Asari in a uniform wheel in their food. Varro tipped her as she collected their clothes, then shut and sealed the door again before moving to the table to eat. "Mmm... smells good." He uncovered a dish of a bright red-orange stew on a bed of dark grains or beads and breathed deeply. Then glanced at her food and pointed his spork at her mashed potatoes. "What is that substance? It looks like some kind of starch meringue." Tahlyn leaned forward as though transfixed by the whipped mound of potato.

Shaking off his bizarre fascination, Tahlyn continued his tale.
"I don't expect to find what I'm looking for on Garvug. The Asari owned that place for centuries before they gave it to the Krogan to keep them busy. What I hope to find is something to narrow down my list of possible locations for one of the Prothean projects. I have seven, and all of them are through locked Mass Relays, so just checking them one by one isn't a possibility. C-Sec and the Spectres would be on me like a rash, paranoid about Rachni remnants or Krogan armadas or who knows what else." He waved and dug into his meal with obvious gusto, sprinkling on a thick, black quarian condiment that smelled strongly of sugar and musk.

"I'm not the only one chasing this down. The man who hired me to steal Tenzen Owari's diaries, the man who tried to buy my discs away from the Salarian, is after them too. He's an old... associate. Former Alliance, Cerberus sympathies but he won't work with them. Fanatical pro-Earth loyalist, though. Colonel Tadeo Shikishima, the commander and chief stockholder in Cold Iron Conflict Resolution, one of the up and coming merc companies. We worked together a few times, right after I left government service. I mellowed a little in my old age... seems like the Colonel just got tougher." The Turian made a throwaway gesture with his right hand, continued to eat with his left.

Finished, Tahlyn addressed himself to his salad while he waited for her to respond. The Asari styled dish was about as healthy for him as gnawing on balsa wood, but it was tasty enough. Unlike human foods, Asari dishes tended not to disagree with Turians. With some notable and unfortunate exceptions, of course. Tahlyn munched as he considered the possibilities. He would rather not have to silence her, but if she decided not to join up he would have to do something to keep her quiet and away from the Colonel for a while. Maybe just putting a price on her head would be enough to keep her running, or selling her into bondage with a local.

That thought soured him on his meal and he put his utensils down for a moment. He really didn't want to have to do that.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis had glanced at her tattoos when Tahlyn mentioned Turians thinking Humans were barefaced, knowing enough about them to know that that was what he was talking about. “Oh, yeah, most people don’t get tattoos on their faces,” She'd told him, “Some do, but not most. It's common in some cultures but not so much anymore. Most people get them on their bodies.” She blinked though when he told her that humans smelled good to Turians, like prey, “Well that's comforting,” She said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes, “Good to know that if we ever get in a situation where there's no food I'll probably be eaten first,” She laughed a bit though as she had headed for the bathroom, “My only dying comfort will be that you won't be able to metabolize me properly and it won't do you any good anyway, and that maybe you'll get mad diarrhea in the process.”

Once out of the shower though she'd gone to the bed, sitting down cross legged in the center and grabbing the remote for the TV and flipping through the channels idly. She turned down the volume down though when she heard Tahlyn singing, listening curiously. It almost sounded like two people singing in harmony with one another and it was pretty interesting to hear a Turian sing. She'd heard a few recordings of course, there were a couple of metal bands with good Turian singers, but it was different to hear in person. She'd always liked they're distinctive flanging voices. Some Humans she knew though hated it though.

Artemis laughed softly at the sight of him wrapped up in the fluffy robe, but was almost amused by his continued singing, listening to him with the tv still going softly in the background. She shook her head though when he asked about the food. “Not yet,” she shrugged. She slid over to the edge of the bed when he told her it was time for explanations, listening as he began to tell her about the circumstances that had put him on the path that had lead him to this point, and that the next step in the path looked to be Garvug. They were interrupted by the arrival of their food, and Artemis' stomach gave a growl at the smell. She laughed when he asked about her potatoes, “I've never heard them described that way, but yeah, basically. They're mashed potatoes, one of the few Human food stuffs that you can easily find outside Alliance space and the Citadel, I've come to learn. Probably because they're so incredibly easy to grow. You have to be trying to fail at growing potatoes.”

She grabbed her plate and sat back down, eying her steak a little. She'd never had Othrak before, and it had a distinctly purple coloration to it that she found... questionable. It smelled good though, so she shrugged and took to it with her knife and fork, getting the first piece in her mouth as Tahlyn continued his story. Deciding it didn't taste half bad, though maybe a little sweeter than she liked her steak. She had a sweet tooth, but she firmly believed that real food was very different from sweets. Artemis listened especially when he spoke of the man that was pursuing the same thing as Tahlyn, the one that had tried to buy the information from Rowlan, and then tried to capture them.

Artemis was about half way through her steak and potatoes when he finished, but took a drink of water before she spoke. “Alright, so how much are you paying me to go along with this crazy venture?” She cut another piece of steak and pulled it off her fork, chewing slowly as she watched him. She spoke obviously as if the thought of backing out hadn't even crossed her mind. It hadn't. She'd said she was on board, so she was.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

Picking at his food, he watched her closely, and then smiled and bit down into a chunk of some unidentifiable meat when she let him know she was in. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he set down his fork and grinned a toothy grin.
"Alliance pay grades for piloting duties, plus room and board. Five percent hazard bonus for dangerous ops, and a ten percent on top of that for actual combat. Getting paid a little more does take the sting out of getting shot at, doesn't it?" Those violet eyes shone softly. "If and when we get any serious profit, we split it just like we discussed on the Virtue: a five way split, I take three shares, you and Bronn both take one. Whether it's fifty credits or five billion."

Picking up his spork again, he dug into his turian curry-stew and nodded.
"That's not just the big payoff, that's any salvage, rewards, bounties and anything we beg, borrow or steal along the way." Tahlyn seemed to have a cavalier attitude to this, the money side of it anyways. It seemed as though it wasn't the money that motivated him, but something else.

"Of course, you'll earn it. The ship's meant for a crew of six, so we all pull a lot of maintenance time." Tahlyn wasn't finished his meal, but he pushed back from the table anyways, wanting to move. Standing, he started to pace, the lean Turian prowling back and forth near the windows.

"What else?" Tahlyn folded his hands behind his back as he tried to think what else she needed to know. "Opposition. Cold Iron isn't much larger than a division, but mostly spread out in penny packets all over Alliance space. Mostly they buy Human. Alliance cast-offs for the big stuff. They only have a few ships, nothing bigger than a Destroyer." He paused, thought about it. That was something to double-check, it had been a couple of years since he'd had a real run-in with the Colonel. "They do a lot of corporate security and especially punitive expeditions against pirates, raiders, slavers and the like. Buys them goodwill from the Alliance and a lot of bad attitude from everyone else. They also don't talk much about it, but they have a very good corporate espionage wing, which is why they're after what I know. I was an outside contractor who got a little curious. Oh, and I might have killed my contact when they tried to stiff me for the job. No love lost there."

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

Artemis nodded as he reminded her of how much she was getting paid, “Alright, well, I guess that's good enough.” Money though really wasn't overly important to her, if it was she would have stayed in the Alliance. Despite how she sometimes had a bad attitude towards authority, Artemis was a good soldier, and an amazing pilot. She knew she could have at least made flight captain someday, and probably not too far in the future, if she had stayed. That would have been a significant increase in pay. It wasn't worth it though, she'd had to get away for her own peace of mind. In a sense, she'd come out to the Terminus Systems to run away from her problems rather than deal with them, and it would be strange to anyone who knew that she'd rather go on a highly dangerous venture like what Tahlyn was suggesting than go home.

She ate and listened as he paced and talked about some of their opposition, until she finally finished her steak and mashed potatoes and grabbed her dessert, the Thessian sundae. The substance was somewhere between ice cream and sorbet, with a smooth creamy taste with a slight tang she could never seem to place, and drizzled with a sort of berry syrup. It wasn't half bad, not as good actual ice cream though, in her opinion.

“You sure are talented at making friends,” Artemis laughed a bit, having to mutter out of the side of her mouth since her spoon was sticking out of the other corner. “Hey what were you singing?” She asked him curiously, her hair beginning to dry into short waves rather than being straight like it usually was. She had to use products and tools to get it to straighten, letting it dry on it's own allowed it to form into it's natural state, which were waves that bordered on curls. She hated them.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

"Anyone can make friends. Making the right kind of enemies takes work." Tahlyn snarked back at her, stopping his pacing and leaning on the window, his forearm pressed against the glass as he looked out. Her question about his singing in the shower caught him by surprise and he turned, looking at her. "Hmm? Oh. A Turian song-drama, I guess it's similar to human opera. That was the aria from Chen Tauro's 'Miy Krivataro'." Tahlyn looked faintly uncomfortable as he moved back towards the table, nervous energy building up in him again. "It's pre-spaceflight, the tale of a soldier who gets caught up in the intrigues of two of the ruling hierarchs of his nation-state and is used as a cat's paw against his friends and his commander, dishonouring himself and his entire family."

Forcing himself to sit down, he continued to tell the story.
"The soldier falls into despair and for years he lives among the criminals and outcasts, a lesson for all his former comrades. But then, after seven years, he raises a rebellion, overthrows the hierarchs who betrayed him and reclaims his honour. At the end, he hands over the reins of power to his brothers in arms and falls on his own blade." Tahlyn smiled a little, sour smile. "It's a great classic, which means that it's obscure and most Turians don't even remember it."

He was about to say something else when a knock at the door interrupted him. Crossing the room he tossed her her pistol while he hefted his smg and moved to open it.
"Your laundry sir. Oh!" The Asari took a step back when she saw the guns, but Tahlyn was already lowering it.
"I'm sorry, we were expecting an old friend. Practical jokes, you know?" The lie was weak, but she seemed to accept it.
"Of course sir. Here you go." Tahlyn accepted the bundle of clothing and the Asari began clearing away the dishes onto their cart, smiling at Artemis. "I hope you enjoy your sundae. If you're staying long, you should try the banana split." She patted Artemis on the arm, her fingers lingering briefly before she moved to the door.

When they were alone again, Tahlyn began sorting their clothes into two piles. Then he slipped on his omni-tool and scanned them for transmitters, nanotech or chemical markers. It seemed like an unlikely possibility, but you never knew.
"Not only are they clean, they're clean." He admitted grudgingly. "Feel free to suit up, or not. We're going to be here a while so whatever you're comfortable with."

Taking his clothing, but leaving his battered, Varren-leather jacket, Tahlyn slipped into the bathroom to dress.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

She listened as he explained the song he'd been singing a bit, not surprised it was from some sort of Turian opera, it had sounded like it. Then he gave her a run down of the opera, her brows lifting slowly. Tahlyn had been acting more and more agitated and nervous and she couldn't help but note that he sounded sour telling her about the opera. He'd seemed almost jovial until he'd finished telling her about what they after and getting her filled in on everything and then getting her commitment to join in as his pilot. She didn't know though, if it was her place to ask him if there was something wrong.

So she just gave a wry sort of smile as he finished telling her about the opera, “Sounds... uplifting,” She told him, “I'm surprised really, I always got the impression that Turians never bothered much with art, including music and theater.” She looked up though when there was a knock at the door, catching her pistol as he tossed it to her and flipping the safety off. When she saw it was just an Asari maid though she flipped the safety back on and set the gun aside.

She just watched Tahlyn try to smooth things over a bit, continuing to eat her dessert, but glanced at the Asari when she spoke to her, her eyes narrowing a little when the blue alien touched her arm, and trying not to roll her eyes when her fingers lingered. Once she was gone though she let the urge go and her green eyes rolled to the ceiling. “Asari,” She muttered, taking another bite of her sundae and watching Tahlyn check their clothes for bugs and traces. Artemis failed to see the appeal in that particular species, but she also wasn't into women. And she did consider them women, no matter how much people wanted to tell her they were 'monogendered', well that meant one gender, not genderless, and they had boobs and could have kids, so they were women.

She just nodded when Tahlyn told her she could get dressed if she wanted but since they weren't going anywhere any time soon it didn't matter. Artemis decided she was pretty comfortable so she didn't get up to get dressed, and remained sitting on the bed, finishing her sundae and setting the bowl aside.

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

"Oh, we have our art, just like anyone. Even the Krogan. Ours is just centered around unity, discipline and militarism." He cocked his head, an almost birdlike motion. "Most Turians have trouble appreciating the more random and chaotic art forms of other species. We like things to be regimented and straightforward. Personally, I like a little chaos, but that's why I'm here and not back home on Invictus leading a Cabal."

Tahlyn was chuckling as she brushed off the Asari.
"Not a fan of our most ancient and respected Citadel race?" He asked with a chuckle. "Amazing how the Asari seem to polarize people. Most humans I know seem to love them, most species seem to fall the same way come to think of it. Then there are the ones, and there aren't too many of those, who seem to suspect they've been manipulating things since before the Citadel Council. Or the real... what's the human term? 'Tinfoil Hat brigade'? The ones who think that their interbreeding with other species is an attempt to assimilate our genetics, as though it's some kind of plot." He finished adjusting his tunic, the tight black armorweave clinging to his carapace.

Checking the time, he considered calling Bronn and thought better of it.
"In the morning we'll give our prodigal engineer a call and then go take a look at the port. Unless you'd rather leave it a day and do some sightseeing, of course." The Turian still seemed restless, but leaving the hotel was probably a bad idea. With nothing to do, he was just building up energy that he couldn't burn off.

Finally, bored beyond belief, he sat down cross-legged in the Turian version of a full-lotus and began to glow. Eyes closed, he picked up his various personal items and set them to orbiting himself in slow ellipses, first one and then another until he was like a blue star at the center of a solar system of heat sinks, coins, tools and other found objects.

~tag~

 

[Atroxa]

“I don't really have the patience for art... I guess that makes me uncultured but,” she shrugged, “I love music, but physical art isn't really my thing. My mom tried to take me to an art museum once and I about felt like I was coming out of a coma when we left.” She laughed a little, remembering how annoyed her mother had been, lamenting that only one of her children had the depth to appreciate art. Logan had definitely been her favorite. Most would think that that would have been Artemis, given that she was the only girl, and the youngest, but Artemis was her father's daughter. She and Darren, her eldest brother, took after him most, Logan, the second oldest, had taken after their mother, and Garrett was more the black sheep of the family.

Artemis just made a face though as he spoke of the Asari, “I just don't get the big deal, I mean yeah it's pretty cool how powerful their biotics are but really, I don't understand why every living thing drools over them. In ranking appeal in alien species, Asari are only above Vorcha and Batarians because they don't disgust me.” She paused, frowning a little, “I do, however, think that they aren't exactly what they appear to be. I once had a Salarian insist that they look like Salarians and nothing like Humans or Turians and he couldn't believe that a Turian friend of his thought they looked like Turians and nothing else.” Her mouth pulled to the side in that gesture of deep thought for a moment, “Guess I just that a little suspicious because I don't think they look like Turians or Salarians at all. I think they look a lot like Humans with tentacles for hair. Not sure what that means...”

She glanced down at Tahlyn's torso as he adjusted the tunic of his body, pursing her lips a little. She was admittedly curious, but wasn't rude enough to go staring at him to sate her curiosity in his species. Artemis had always been a little too nosy for her own good, but she'd learned to rein it in a bit over the years. Didn't make it go away, just that her impulse control was better than it'd once been, which was pretty sad considering it was still rather poor. Like most of her generation though, Artemis was far more open to the new things the galaxy had to offer, including other species, despite her lack of interest in Asari.

Artemis scooted up the bed a little further so that she could lean against the pillows after propping them against the head board, smiling a little and giving a snort, “I wouldn't mind taking a day to go sightseeing, but only if we're decently sure we won't be getting shot at or having to jump off anymore buildings.” She crossed her arms, her bare legs crossing at the knee, and watched him curiously as he sat and started to glow, doing what she guessed was the biotic version of juggling and meditation combined, quirking a brow at him, “You don't really relax do you?”

 

[Ursus Peregrinus]

~~Tahlyn Varro~~

"I'm not really much for art either. It's too static. Too slow." Tahlyn kept pacing, his hands moving in front of him in a smoothly flowing pattern. "Music flows, it moves, it lives. Talk to Bronn about art, he hits every museum he can. Says it helps him understand how we think. Personally, I'd rather see something in person." The Turian kept walking, but his pacing slowed. He was moving around the hotel room like a caged animal, only pausing to look out the window as though there were something out there he wanted.

As Artemis held forth on Asari, Varro looked over at her with an odd expression.
"Well, I don't know if I'd go so far as to rank them with Vorcha," Tahlyn chuckled, "but I still don't trust them completely. Of course, I don't trust anyone completely. Not even myself." He stopped in mid-step and looked at her. "Funny you should mention about how they look... I've always thought they looked a little like Turian females, only soft. I know that the Salarian STG have done some research into Asari pheromones, though. Something about them being adaptive? Probably building some subtle weapon out of them, or maybe an inoculation against it. I should ask Rowlan sometime, he was the one who told me about it" He glanced at her again. "You should keep your thoughts to yourself around Bronn though. He's very dedicated to his Asari paramour."

If the Turian noticed her attention to him, he didn't show it. His attention was focused elsewhere. Lost in thought. Tahlyn was remembering another hotel on another world, hiding out with Zeretha after they pulled the Ariake Technologies job. Looking out at the skyline, Tahlyn found himself wondering where she was now, if she'd ever made her way back to the Migrant Fleet. That was what was going through his mind as he settled down to practice his fine control, moving objects around just by focusing on them and reaching out with his ME fields.

Artemis' voice brought him back to himself and he glanced over at her.
"I can't promise no impromptu skydiving or gunplay," he said, showing his teeth in a wolfish smile. "Life's uncertain that way. Besides, what fun is there in being safe? You're a pilot, you can't tell me you don't crave that rush." The toothy grin only widened as he moved his constellation of orbits to circle her. "And no, Artemis, I don't relax. In my line of work, you keep moving or you end up dead. I don't relax, but I do play." A piece of fruit, an apple with a red blush so dark it was almost purple, levitated from a bowl on the table and joined the dancing objects floating around her. So did one of his knives, and as they intersected the fruit was sliced smoothly into two halves. Every few orbits around her, one of the slices would meet the blade and be cut into two. At the same time, the other objects flitted away one by one, maintaining the number of 'planets' circling her.

One last cut and the knife flipped through the air to land in his outstretched hand before disappearing into a pocket of his tunic. Eyes narrowing to slits, the slices of the apple began to reassemble themselves. Soon the fruit, limned in an azure glow, hovered in front of her face only a foot or so away.
"Say what you will about the Asari, they do know a lot of tricks." His voice was a little strained, if he was human he'd be sweating. "May not trust them, but I do like to learn from the best."

~tag~