Fandom Mass Effect- The Spirit of Plenix - Additional IC

[Effervescent]

Heavy lids strained open as Kveer decided to watch the Quarian and Asari banter heatedly. Already, the competition turned to name calling and shaming with lackluster remarks. Regardless, it was an educational experience on his end allowing him to formulate speculations about those involved with the showdown. A headache formed at the rising call of the other Asari joining in the needless fray. He shut his eyes momentarily to focus the dull pain away before it could grow into a migraine and slumped forward in his seat. Annoyed was an understatement. This crew was already a disaster.


Kveer turned his gaze towards the pouting Asari who had just spoken up. She looked rather smug for having a very ineffective and minimal contribution to the ongoing fight. "Hey," he called out to her, his chin upturning with a nod. "What's your name?"

 

[Sunbather]

Saraya groaned as the human called her out. She felt stressed out and a little annoyed at the volume-heavy dispute and she was sure she wasn't the only one who felt like that. "Yeees?" Saraya replied in a stretched out, awfully sweet, sarcastic way, as she turned to face the man. "Saraya. Why do you wanna know, pretty boy? Or are you gonna tell me you're here for the hiring as well? Wouldn't want to get that silky smooth ha..." she stopped, getting annoyed at her own, provoking behavior. It would probably not aid her much in getting the group to settle down a little, and so she scolded herself, mentally, before giving the man a tired look. "Hmph, nevermind... Name's Saraya. Saraya Dal'Avine." Her eyes darted over Kveer. He seemed awfully unarmed for such a job, but hey, the fewer serious applicants, the smaller the split would be in the end.

 

[Broken-Angel]

Callina snarled yet again as another Human male approached her. What was with these people? Didn't her standoff-ish attitude tell them that she wasn't here to make pleasantries? Where in their feeble little mind made them think that she wanted to be friends with any of them. Besides, the strained expression and tone of this male's voice, told her that he really didn't want to be talking to her all that much. Callina's eyes scanned over him in scrutiny and her mind already made up the opinion of him being a 'needy', type of person. She gave him the same expression that she gave the other male Human. As well as did Mouse. Most of the time if he could sense that she didn't a person, odds were that he wasn't going to like the person either.


Sizing him up again, she spoke up this "I'll go ahead and tell you this right now. I'm not easy to get along with and I get the feeling that you're a bit of a bitch. So for both of our sakes, why don't you go make nice with someone else?". Callina pointed to the other Human male that was talking with another female Asari. "Why not him? If you both stand next to each other, I think ya'll might make a full working brain. Though I wouldn't hold my breath. You both seem to be lacking the in intelligence department". With that statement, she leaned back and closed her eyes once again. God if this Captain doesn't get here soon, she was giving some serious thought to jumping ship already.


(@general ostruppen )

 

[Effervescent]

A smirk curled the end of his lips as Saraya introduced herself. Her annoyance at the tiff just across the chamber was evident, and the way she halted in her words only furthered the man's amusement. His posture straightened only a little to denote his attention, his head flecking to the side to maneuver a stray lock of dark hair from his line of sight. It was true, he was not as heavily adorned as most of those gathered. Instead, he wore light armor in monochromatic grays and blacks and carried only one pistol strapped to his back. The singular duffel bag that sat concave with a lack of items contained within only served to show the man had very little on his person.


"Saraya," Kveer repeated, a small thoughtful nod of his head following. But he did not continue the conversation further, and elected to turn his attention forward once again to the glowing control panel.

 

[AlphaDraco]

Oliver's attention was drawn away from the krogan when Raya said her full name to the human who had sat behind him. Saraya Dal'Avine. That name repeated itself in his head multiple times. It sounded so familiar yet he still couldn't place it. He had to take his mind off of it or else it would drive him crazy. So he turned his attention to the human behind him.


The guy was obviously very tired, dark rings under his eyes. Probably hadn't slept well for quite a while. That, and he looked to be suffering from migraines. Perhaps a pre existing injury or illness? Well, Oliver was the medic and he was not going to let one of his charges suffer, even if he literally just met the guy. "Hey buddy? You need help with that headache? I got some medicine in my luggage over there that should offer some temporary relief. Also got something that'll wake you up for a while." Oliver gave a sincere smile, hoping this guy would accept his help.

 

[Effervescent]

At first the man's voice didn't quite register in Kveer's mind as being addressed to him. But the human in front of him had his body turned somewhat to face him, and he locked eyes with the generic looking man for a couple of seconds in quiet thought. This was the only other person he had deemed as somewhat normal, albeit oddly cheery for a guy working as a criminal. Was he high? Kveer checked him over to quickly assess any signs, yet only found the man looked sober. A huff of a laugh escaped him, and he gave the man a nod in response.


"Medic?" Kveer asked. The way the man could address Kveer's symptoms with ease was an indicator of some sort of professional medical background. It wasn't expected in a lot of rag tag organizations such as this one. The bigger groups tended to hire the recently unlicensed doctors quickly, and Kveer wondered what this man did to lose his credibility in the open field. "I don't need anything to keep me awake, but I'll gladly take whatever you have for this headache."


@AlphaDraco

 

[AlphaDraco]

Oliver chuckled as he got up. "Yeah, I'm a medic, names Oliver." He quickly went over to his trolley and rummaged through a crate till he came up with what he was looking for. Turning around quickly, he walked back to his seat while counting out the appropriate dosage.


Handing the medicine to the man, Oliver started to give the appropriate warnings regarding the medicine. "Warning, do not operate heavy machinery such as mechs, tanks, or starships while on these pills. If you get an erection lasting longer than four hours, please consult your doctor. Which would be me." Oliver chuckled to himself again before sitting back down with Raya, racking his brain for where he had met her before.

 

[KamiKahzy]

The constant banter and bickering of the gathered individuals served as a perfect distraction for what the Plenix's captain had planned. The constant noise silently drowned out the fact that the cheery elevator music from before had gone silent, and that the lights in the room were beginning to dim very slowly. None of the assembled mercenaries would notice it at first, but soon enough they would realize that the lights had dimmed to a third of their strength, and that the welcome text circling the digital orb had stopped spinning. As the noise and chatter died down all attention was brought to the projected orb as it hung silently in the air.


Then, without notice or warning, the orb dissipated and a shadowy silhouette was projected into the center of the ring. The shape seemed humanoid, but lacked any definitive features that could place it as male, female, or even truly human for that matter. It was more like a shadowy blob of clay than anything else, and it gave no further clues to it's identity when it spoke. The voice was scrambled through several speech processors to effectively disguise any and all clues as to the identity of the speaker, even going so far as to mix both male and female sound bites into the playback. Yet the garbled voice had an oddly commanding tone to it, and the way the shadow held itself denoted a sense of elegance and refinement that nobody in the room was expecting.


"Welcome, Crew hopefuls, to the Spirit of Plenix. I'm sure you're all curious as to who it is that has decided to hire you for the foreseeable future. Well, here I am." The shadow extended two blobby appendages from it's sides and bent forward in an elegant bow. The strange thing was that, no matter where you sat in the circle, the projection appeared to be facing you directly, so no one in the room had to turn their heads to see the image clearly. "I go by many names. Some I use in public, others in private. The only one you need to know, however, is 'Boss'."


The name was left to hang in the air for a minute, expecting the gathered audience to take in the atmosphere of this grand and mysterious entrance.


Which was promptly ruined by the technicolor salarian in the corner, currently putting himself between two armed and dangerous women. Not his smartest idea, in retrospect. "Wait wait wait, hold up. So you're the asshole that was playin' that damn elevator music earlier?"


It was hard to tell but the shadow's mouth seemed to turn up in a smile at that. "Oh no, I'd never stoop to something so obviously juvenile. Your pilot though, he would find such acts amusing. Darnot, why don't you introduce yourself?"


A secondary display window, this one flat and plain, popped up next to the shadow's head and expanded to provide a clearer picture. On the display was the face of an elcor, wearing what could only be described as a baseball cap designed for an elephant. The emblem of the Usaru Maestros biotiball team was stitched proudly onto the front for all to see. The 'gills' on the side of the elcor's face began to move as it spoke into the camera, presumably from the Bridge where he was helming. "With subdued impish glee: Did you enjoy my welcoming soundtrack?"


The salarian just stood there, jaw to the floor as he took in the completely ridiculous event that just happened. "I... that... damn, wow. You and I are gonna have words, but damn! I just got punk'd by an elcor!" Rulan couldn't suppress a laugh as the absurdity of the event hit him and he looked over at Thia for confirmation. Mexican standoff aside, this was just hilarious!


The shadow shimmered once after the salarian had finished speaking. "Yes, Darnot has been known for his sass and 'unique' personality. Quite charming really." The shadow seemed to take a long look at everyone gathered, sizing them up in it's own way before standing tall and regal once more. "You all must have questions, so please, ask them now."

 

[DiamondJack]

Brixx stepped forward from his hiding spot in the corner. The Krogan wasn't sure what he wanted to ask first, but he had a lot of questions. He let his mind settle before he finally spoke, "What's the deal?" The big Krogan left the question to hang in air for what seemed like minutes before speaking again, "You hired a lot of mercs from different backgrounds, most don't even know each other. In case you didn't know we already have some people pointin' guns at each other already! So you weren't goin' for team chemistry when you hired us." This was the most the Krogan had spoken in a long time, but Brixx had a lot to say, "So I guess I should ask why us? Why not grab a group of mercenaries who already work together, or even two teams if you're lookin' for numbers, it just doesn't make sense to me."


The gruff voice rang through the room as Brixx decided to wrap up his speech, "I just really wanna know why you would put money down on a group of people that could be a bunch of idiots with special skills for all you know." Brixx was done, and he waited for his answer from the shadowy projection. Brixx wondered if he had caught anyone in the room off guard.

 

[KamiKahzy]

Again that slight smile showed up in the shadow's facial region before it spoke. "Very astute Brixx, it's always refreshing to speak with an intelligent krogan."


"It's simple, really. I need talent, and everyone in this room has proven themselves talented in their respective trades. It's true you're all unproven, and many of you have never worked together, but I'm something of a gambler. I saw a potential for high reward and was willing to spend the credits on the risk."


"Besides, I'll know soon enough who is worth adding to the Crew and who is dead weight." The shadow let those words hang in the air for a while as well, letting them sink in as he waited for other questions to come forward.

 

[Sunbather]

The Asari had been ripped out of her moody state ever since the human had asked her her name. She wasn't sure why, but the non-contextualized question, in addition to her epiphany about her own stupid behavior had helped her to shut out the noisy dispute. And so, the adventurous alien had remained seated, a grim but confident smile on her face most of the time. Her cautious eyes darted towards the movement as the shadow had introduced himself as the boss. Interested, she listened with great attention, though a sigh escaped her lips and her eyes rolled around, as he introduced the Elcor who had pranked them. The Salarian seemed oddly amused, which only strengthened Raya's impression of him being a complete and utter imbecile.


This is a fucking children's party, by all that is holy... The Asari felt annoyance rise again, though now, her brain was more occupied with the voluntarily offered questioning session. Just as she wanted to get up, the Krogan had risen to the occasion and, admittedly, made some good points. In fact, she wanted to know the answer to these questions as well, though something else burned on her mind, a much more necessary question had to be asked. Quickly, with a smooth movement, she got up. With crossed arms, she flailed her nostrils and vaguely looked back and forth between "the Boss" and Brixx. "Sorry, big boy, but I really just need to have one question answered." she raised an eyebrow and smirked again. "How much cash do we get out of this? Percentages? Static sums? I'm just saying, the Krogan makes some good points and all, but I don't really care if the hyper midget over there gets his ass blown up or not. I'll finish it on my own if I have to. But... you know... the price has to be right."

 

[KamiKahzy]

@Sunbather


The Boss addressed the spunky asari now, making sure to stand as officially as he could. "Payment will be on a percentage basis depending on the jobs that are offered. Higher paying jobs will result in higher salaries for those involved, but rest assured that you will not be sent on missions that net you anything less that 5000 credits per Crewman."


"Of course, none of you will receive any funds until after you've proven yourselves on your first mission."

 

[Broken-Angel]

Callina was about to tell the annoying Human off again but got cut off at the sound of a voice emerging from a blotchy silhouette. She leaned her head around the bumbling fool to look at what was now considered her 'boss'. Well wasn't this shady as hell. Then again in her live of work, most jobs were. So who was she to throw stones. She sat there and listened with patience that she never really knew she had. Well who can blame her? She was getting paid. Money was money, after all. Callina looked back up at the Human and rolled her eyes. She stood and pushed him to the side. She was about to ask her own question, when all of a sudden everyone's question came barreling one after another. She was slightly annoyed that she couldn't get anything in just yet. Though the question that the much more calmer Asari asked, was one of the questions that was on her mind. Though something bugged her about this whole thing. Things were going just a bit too smoothly. If you excused the pissy fight between the two females over there. God she was ready to shoot them both in the damn head if they didn't stop their piss taking contest.


Walking a little closer to the flickering blotch of a figure, Callina asked the question that has been lingering in her head of some time now. She stood before the figure and crossed her arms over her chest. "Excuse me for looking a gifted horse in the mouth and all, but something seems a little off to me. If you don't count the cheerleader fight over there", she pointed to the two females that had been fighting before. "This whole thing seems a little too good to be true. I mean the last time I took a job similar to this, I found myself driving a rover that had a few barrels of Red Sand in the back. You don't want to know what happened to the guy once I found out. So unless you want to see how well you fit inside a metal barrel, I suggest you start telling me what's the catch. I don't see you as the bored rich type". Callina peered her eyes into where she would figure were the shady being's were.

 

[KamiKahzy]

That same, oddly misshapen smile showed up on the shadow's face once more as he addressed the turian female. "I think it's far too early to assume we can categorize one another, young one."


"Regardless, you make a valid point. There are some expectations that go along with this job offering. There is a modicum of professionalism and restraint I expect from each of you while on the job." The shadow pointedly leaned forward towards Rulan, Thia and Zea at this, emphasizing his opinions of the three. "But more importantly than that, these jobs will be dangerous. As I said before, I am a gambler of sorts. And the jobs I receive have a high risk associated with them. But because they are high risk, there is a high reward as well. You are being offered this job because you all have proven yourselves talented. But more than that, you are reliable, consistent, and above all else you are survivors. In this line of work survivors are a rare commodity, and I intend to cash in on that."

 

[general ostruppen]

Radcet felt somewhat worried on the Turians response and looked for guidance from Chester. "Don't look at me, this is your screw up." "Well I don't do well on introductions with people I never even had info on." from everyone's point of view it looked like Radcet was just standing there staring at the Turian. chester thought for a few seconds and then thought, "Well if you would like me to, I could maybe introduce myself and I could ease the tension, if I may." Radcet was at first disaproving the idea but then again he wasn't good at speaking to strangers so he decided to make chester his speaker for now. "go ahead, but remember no info on the classified stuff just tell basic info on yourself if they ask, and say whatever I transfer to you." with that being said Chester nodded, But before they could react the boss came in and everyone was drawing towards him and well usual merc attitudes."Hmmmm what now, you still want me to introduce ourselves." Radcet nodded and joined up with the group and listening at first. "No classified stuff spoiled k."Then Chester simulated himself and just sat on radcets shoulder and raised his hand, "Excuse me sir but I don't like the scary Turian over here."

 

[Broken-Angel]

Callina turned her head to look at the idiot Human male from before. "Scary? Honey please, you ain't seen me even close to scary yet. So why don't you grow some balls and talk to me face to face, instead of having that VI puppet hand up your ass, alright?". Callina turned back away from him and back to the 'boss man'. "So basically what you're telling me is that, we are something close to the term of cannon fodder, for you? If the job looks too risky for other groups to complete it, you just send us in reap in the rewards, huh?". She got up close to the smudgy figure and narrowed her eyes at him. "I hate to burst your bubble, but unless you have a good fucking reason, I don't play anyone's bitch". She then turned away and walked back over to her pervious seat. After sitting down, she crossed her legs and arms, Mouse hopping up onto the seat next to her and laying his head in her lap. He laid there with one eye open, daring anyone to take a step forward.

 

[KamiKahzy]

The Boss looked down at Callina evenly as he weighed his words. "If you don't wish to participate that's quite alright my dear. The door is open and nobody is stopping you. But you should know that while these jobs are dangerous, I would not have hired you if I did not think you were up to the task."


"Of course, if you do leave, you'll be passing up the opportunity to earn your... generous signing bonus." At which point the shadow seemed to flicker and warp as a new message popped up on Callina's omni-tool. When she viewed it, she'd be looking at a picture of a brand new skybike, fresh off the line and colored to match her usual ensemble.

 

[CursedDawn]

Zea glared at Thia for a moment longer before putting her pistols away and turning toward the shadow that addressed them. "I'm perfectly capable of being professional, if you thought otherwise you wouldn't have gone through the trouble of tracking down a single specific quarian in the Terminus Systems." She said with crossed arms. "And what kind of jobs would we be doing anyway? At a glance the only thing any of us have in common is combat experience, clearly you must have something planned for more specific skill sets, or at least I'll assume you have otherwise you probably wasted whatever resources you used to recruit us." Zea said. When Callina spoke up, Zea listened patiently and nodded in agreement, "I agree with the turian, I'm not shy about a fight but I'm not risking my life for someone I've never met without something good for me. I don't even have much need for credits, I get by fine with what I've got as it is, what can you offer we want?"

 

[KamiKahzy]

The Boss didn't even answer Zea, but merely glanced in her direction as she spoke. When she was finished, his form shimmered again as he sent out another data packet. This one was a dossier on a certain salarian doctor by the name of Laneer. His accreditation was laudable, earning two doctorates in robotics and computer programming, and was lauded as a bright young mind in the field of robotics in salarian space. Attached to this was a criminal record for various thefts and abductions concerning highly advanced robotic tech and AI blue boxes. The most recent report stated he was seen fleeing a system with an unknown shipment in tow, but it was rumored the shipment was geth in origin. Given his background and his more passionate speeches about AI research and control, it was likely the good doctor was looking into ways to alter the geth for his own designs.


A simple message was written below the attached reports on Doctor Laneer for Zea's eyes only. "Work for me, and I will help you find this man to bring before the Migrant Fleet."

 

[AlphaDraco]

Oliver slowly stood up after the quarian had finished her question. "Mr. Boss was it? I'm assuming that I was brought along to keep your investments in tiptop shape, so I just have one question: What facilities do you have here that I can make use of? I don't mean to be rude but the last time I went out with a merc group that claimed to have 'state of the art' medical facilities, all they had was a cot and an IV in the janitor's closet." Oliver waited patiently for his reply.

 

[KamiKahzy]

The shadow's smile returned, though this time it seemed more genuine than the other times it had tried this. "Of course Doctor. Darnot, bring up the feed would you?" The elcor stared blankly back at the screen, as his race was most famous for doing. "Sincerely: Right away Boss." The display that had been showing Darnot's face switched over to a camera feed of what looked to be a spacious med bay within the interior of the ship. Below this image a 3-D blueprint of the ship flickered to life, showing a glowing section to denote where the med bay was located. "Volus ships, by design, are meant to cater to a wide variety of alien needs. Their med bays, as well as their galleys, are well stocked to provide for both levo and dextro based lifeforms. I've gone a step further and ensured your med bay is well stocked with a variety of medications and treatment options for nearly any alien that passes through its doors. Five bed standard, and the stations can be pushed together to accommodate larger patients, such as Darnot."





"With heavy sarcasm: Yes, because I chose a career as a pilot to risk my life needlessly."


It was hard to tell, but the shadow might have laughed at that.

 

[GemShem]

Thia maintained her stance even as their new boss entered the Comms Room, she listened intently and waited until Zea finally holstered her weapons, there was no way the Asari was going to back down without a fight. Satisfied, she too stored her shotgun, her fingers twitching for the trigger. Rulan's comment went over her head as she studied her new boss' shadowy figure, a frown forming on her face. "I fuckin' hate to agree with tin can and all but I can always get my credits elsewhere, this is all too secretive. Show us your face or somethin' why don't you?" She crossed her arms and studied the figure, hoping to catch a glimpse of something but it was in vain.

 

[general ostruppen]

Radcet was disappointed at what Chester had just said and just tapped on the turians shoulder to apologize but hesitated when he noticed the little guy on her lap. (Second thought I'll do that later) he then decided to speak for himself instead of Chester. Passing by the others to face the boss , " What about modification for our weapons or armor if I may ask, some of my equipment is a little outdated.My ummm friend here would be able to make me more efficient for the mission if that's alright with you." As he pointed at the little glowing VI who was twiddling his thumbs. "sorry Mrs.scary lady"

 

[KamiKahzy]

@GemShem


The Boss regarded the other Asari carefully, taking in her stature and attitude before responding. "I'm sorry but my identity would be best kept a secret until after the first mission has been completed. If any of you fail or decide to leave now while you can my face could be made known to certain inquiring parties. Not the biggest setback I could fathom, but I'd rather not spend the credits hunting you down again to ensure the leak didn't spread."


@general ostruppen


"As for you, Mr. Radcet, you needn't worry. The Armory located within the cargo deck is well equipped to handle repair and maintenance of your gear. Some replacements are available, but if you desire anything new or unique I'm afraid you'll have to shop for that on your own time with your earned funds." The displays next to the Boss had changed to reflect the Armory and it's location. It did indeed look well equipped, but it didn't seem to have anything beyond the essentials. Everything a soldier needed to fight, but nothing more.

 

[Broken-Angel]

Callina was close to spout another snarky comment when her Omni tool let out a beep blinked, letting her know that she had a message. Lifting her head, she looked down at her arm and opened up the notification. What she saw there stopped her dead in her tracks. Okay, the fact that he knew something like this about her, didn't sit so well with her, and it made her uneasy. Which wasn't something that didn't happen to often to her. Callina shifted in her seat and cleared her throat, putting her scowl back in it's place before anyone noticed her appearance faltering. She closed the message and crossed her arms back over her chest. Mouse looked up at her with a curious expression on his face. Callina looked down and him and shook her head. It was sign that this wasn't the place to speak of what she just received. He just nuzzled against her in response, letting her know that he understood.