Mass Effect: Normandy Renegade IC [U/C]

[RebelJap8O8]

Derek Baxter

The former Alliance Marine's expression changed at her response, his hands pointing the Cain away from Jack in a casual manner, finger off the trigger. "Romantic?" Derek asked as if disgusted by her view of a slaughter being anything more than downright wrong all the way to the psychological effects.
He waited a bit. Acted as if he were truly disgusted with her ways, as if he had changed from the last time they had spoken in this way.
Then a grin broke out. An evil, sadistic one. A grin that is said only to be given by Jack and the devil themselves...and now, apparently, Derek. "Sharing that sort of fight with you is damn straight arousing."

 

[Dizzyfish]

Though Tali's primary focus was of course, gathering powerful intel on any possible schematics and upgrades for a plethora of sectors on the Normandy, being prepared for a fight and protecting her hide came in a close second. The Quarian went over her needed collection of firearms, deadly or otherwise as she trailed the long metallic corridors of her permanent residence. The sound of her footsteps echoed off of nearby walls and permeated a short distance away. The quiet was unnerving but then again, she had asked for it. The teams had been prepping for a recon mission with their old friends the Blue Suns which wasn't something that needed to be interrupted.

Tali entered the Armory with a short glance about the roomy compartment as if her presence there would cause some level of distress. To be perfectly honest, it felt as though she spent far too much time in the engine room as the room seemed to have changed since the last time she visited. Tali did not frequent these rooms as often as some of the others as her work was best left to the details of tech and such. Didn't make her any less capable of picking up the weapon she was eying and blowing a hole through someone, especially in her own defense or the defense of those she cared about. Survival was an instinct the Quarian's had been close friends with. As their entire species relied on the urgency of self preservation, learning how to use a weapon just came second nature.

How many people were in the armory, she wasn't certain. She lifted the scimitar shotgun from it's place of rest and felt the weight of it in her hands. There had been some minor changes in the make to ensure that her weapon could never backfire and turn its rage upon her at the wrong moment. The last thing she wanted was a malfunction and end up in the hospital by her own hand. If she was going down, for heaven's sake it wasn't going to be on her accord. That was for sure.

Garrus, a team member she had not fully shared a entire conversation with, stood observing his weapons. If there was one thing that Turian's were good at, it was suiting themselves with high powered weapons, next to using them of course. Tali eyed him for but a moment and then turned back to her own musings. She should have said something, but kept quiet. The hand cannon, a small upgrade from the standard issue Predator, sat upon a vacant counter. After strapping the shotgun on her back, the feeling of the leather strap just barely penetrating the thick hide of her protective suit, Tali reached for the handgun and injected a fresh thermal clip for the ready.

Though Garrus was not on her team, they were still comrades and she turned to him after preparing her own firearms. "Good luck out there Garrus. I believe your old friends will be... happy to see you." Tali tried her hand at light humor, to further the conversation past a single sentence per their usual. It wasn't befitting. She tried regardless.

 

[Nidhogg]

Garrus Vakarian

Garrus heard Tali's joke and turned to her. "I'm sure they'll be delighted. By now I have to assume they learned Archangel didn't die." Garrus wondered how much Tali had been told about what happened on Omega. Certain facts were obvious, and others were in the mission report. He had a feeling that she might not have even asked Shepard about it.

Along with Garrus, Tali was the only part of the original squad still with Shepard. They both knew the commander before she became a Spectre, and since they both had a part in her getting that status they got to see the transformation of her from a soldier to the biggest bad-ass in the galaxy.

Every so often Garrus wondered what Tali thought of him. His investigation on Saren led Shepard to her, and the evidence that proved Saren's guilt. He found it odd that they never really talked in the three years they've known each other. Garrus wasn't much of a talker, though. He certainly didn't think he had anything to talk about with Tali.

Satisfied that the launcher was in good shape, Garrus strapped it to his back and went over to Tali. "Tali, you're switching places with Legion in the squad line-up. I need your tech expertise and team 2 needs Legion's long range support. So that puts you with me, Vincent and Morinth. That work for you?"

 

[Dizzyfish]

Tali vas Normandy

The Quarian woman turned towards the hand gun she had set down in her nervous attempt at a conversation. Without much thought she giggled at the light humor they were sharing, more so out of nerves. She had heard the tale. Perhaps not from the mouth of the person who had lived through the entire experience, but Shepard had shared a few tales and that happened to be one of the few favorites she often relayed. The fact that Garrus had single handedly defended the bridge that led to where he was trapped was something to admire. It was no wonder that Garrus had been a close personal friend of Shepard's as his reputation proceeded him.

Though the details had been few and far between and quite possibly torn asunder by rigorous rounds of alcoholic beverages, at least she understood the joke. Bottom line. "Perhaps it is good. Then they have something to fear even more than the dead aim I have heard from reliable resources you harbor. That Archangel cannot die." Picking up her weapon Tali checked the cross-hairs to ensure that they were even with her visor's aiming mechanism. When both ends met some where in the middle she was pleased enough to holster her weapon.

"That is, well, if I saw the man I was sure I had killed, I would be thinking that same thing... Just from, personal... retrospect." Biting her lower lip she proceeded to exit the armory after assured their conversation was going to be as brief as all the others had been in the past. Her history was comfortable and any sudden changes, though welcomed, were tough getting used too. But of course, Garrus continued and Tali felt a fool to have been rushing so quickly to end their banter.

"Of course, anywhere I can be the most help." She replied jovially, intrigued to consider herself a greater asset on the mission than she had before. With the Blue Suns, she knew that tech was only going to be an underlying factor. There was sure to be more, shoot first ask questions later. However, her level of expertise was always at ready whenever called upon. If Garrus felt he needed it on his team, then perhaps there was more to the mission than they really knew.

 

[Nidhogg]

Garrus Vakarian

Garrus smiled a little and shook his head. "Shepard is the only immortal around here. I'm pretty sure I used up my extra life."

The turian nervously scratched his scars. "We'll work out the squad tactics when we get in the shuttle. Which should be soon. You...have everything you need?"

 

[Dizzyfish]

Tali vas Normandy

"It is best not to say that too loudly around Grunt. He might want to prove the theory true." Tali mused, while still close to the hallway that would take her towards the shuttle. Which would inevitably lead to the mission and whatever dangers it posed once commencing said mission. There was one thing that they shared in common, a close friendship with the commander, something she hadn't realized fully until now. Perhaps they were not galaxies apart as she had once thought, there were aspects of their lives that united in parallel and it really only took a few moments of deep thought to really pin point them. Tali was not all together happy with herself for not building a stronger bond with all her comrades seeing as the Migrant Fleet relied heavily on close relationships with the people you shared a space with. Perhaps habits did not die has hard as they always say they do....

"I look forward to getting out of this ship more than anything." She paused. "Even if that entails taking fire and returning it. It's fresh space, I think I am getting cabin fever." Of course, she realized the humor in that statement, being trapped in a suit all her life should have prepared her for long trips locked inside a ship which was much spacier and left everything to the imagination. Tali realized she carried the conversation further and was pleased with herself, her piercingly glowing eyes fluttering beneath her face mask. "Don't get me wrong, I love my work, but it does get heavy every once in a while." She nodded and outstretched her arm, only to realize after Garrus posed his question that she was indeed not as prepared as she had first thought.

"Umm. No." Walking past Garrus she picked up a few extra thermal clips and shoved them in a small pouch she carried with her on her belt. "It might be wise to... not run out of ammunition. Shepard would probably give me the, 'that's not like you Tali,' speech. I don't particularly like that one."

 

[Nidhogg]

Garrus Vakarian

"You get a speech? Damn it, and here Shepard told me she spanked everyone when they messed up." Garrus smiled at his stupid joke. In the back of his head he hoped like hell Joker wasn't rubbing off on him. He also realized that he doesn't make a lot of jokes, especially around Tali.

"Just a joke, Tali. Let's, uh...yeah, shuttle. That would be a good place to go." Garrus was glad that turians didn't blush and that other species had a hard time reading turian body language. He really didn't need to make himself look like more of an idiot.

As he headed towards the shuttle, a terrifying thought occurred. Somehow...he knew...Shepard would hear about that stupid joke and he wouldn't live it down for weeks.

He really wanted to shoot stuff now. Putting holes in the heads of Blue-Suns mercs always cheered him up.

 

[Dizzyfish]

Tali vas Normandy

Following along close on Garrus's tail, Tali let out a much deeper laugh than before. In fact, the small image in her head of Shepard taking Garrus over her knee like some misbehaved adolescent really hit her funny bone. Why, she wasn't certain. Tali wasn't normally this outgoing with people she hardly knew. Even with other Quarians, she was always about the mission. About a better life. Going home to a world that was all their own. Now that all seemed like the ideals of her dead father, though his convictions ran deep, they were not hers. It was just taking longer to realize that.

Realizing that she was laughing louder than usual, she stopped and cleared her throat into her balled fist and fell silent. Garrus put Tali in a place she didn't often allow herself to go. Vulnerability wasn't something she was accustomed, but on some rare occasions it felt good to, "let loose." (Or so she heard from her human counterparts.) Preferably before a mission as silliness presented a problem for level headedness. And of course , not getting shot was always a plus. The Quarian mentally crossed her fingers as per usual before throwing herself into battle.

"Having a long history as comrades Garrus guarantees you certain.. perks. We can keep it between us." She assured him, giggling behind her mask nervously. Was it really a joke? She honestly wouldn't put it past Shepard to use... unheard of methods of persuasion.

Arriving at the shuttle was uneventful, after sharing a humorous yet awkward moment with a certain Turian teammate whom was quick to say little on their way down, what was there left to say? Don't get shot? Maybe. They needed the rest of the group to recon at the shuttle to really confirm how this mission was going to go down. Then again, other than knowing the ultimate objective, how much of their plans really went accordingly? Tali shrugged and waited patiently, she did not want to ramble on in Garrus's ear, forcing them both into more awkward moments. Then again... "Then again, Shepard may want to know what kind of, 'speech,' she should really give you..." She placed her hand on her hip in a mocking gesture towards Garrus and finally leaned up against a nearby wall messing with her omni-tool. Well wasn't that out of character?

 

[Avellan13]

OOC: Man whenever I`m gone you all get far ahead.

When Vincent heard with whom he`d be teamed with he nodded, "Whatever works" He stood there waiting for the upcoming mission. He gave little care at what happened, none of the crew, except Joker, ever talked to him and Joker wasn`t much for conversation.. Or if they did, it was with little interest or with threats, like Derek. He checked his heavy pistol, making sure it was clean and ready when he needed it.

 

[Nidhogg]

Garrus Vakarian

Garrus felt odd that he had to look up the dossier to see who Vincent was. It wasn't like he knew any of the other human crew members. Dr. Chakwas and Joker were the only ones he recognized easily. Chakwas would harass him when he skipped his check-ups, and Joker would harass him whenever he was just out of striking distance.

Vincent hadn't been on any of the squad missions, and Garrus felt uneasy about having him on his team. Everyone has to have a first mission at some point; Garrus just felt Jacob would handle the newbie better.

When Garrus saw Vincent he walked up to him. The turian was blunt and to the point. "Anastasio. Two questions. What skills can you use in a mission like this and what guns are you trained with?"

 

[Avellan13]

Vincent Anastasio

Vincent turned as he heard someone call his name. He turned towards the voice and saw Garrus. Vincent blinked once assuming an emotionless face, "I`m a Sentinal. I`m trained in pistols, sub machine guns, and shotguns. In other words, close combat. I also specialize in biotics, such as Reave, and tech abilties, including tech power armor ability and overload. I`m trained in engineering and a good medic, but not as good as Mordin."

He nodded and waited for any more questions. He wasn`t meaning to be rude or cold, he just needed time to get to know everyone before he showed them any respect. The only ones he showed respect and good conversation to was Shepard and Joker.

 

[Nidhogg]

Garrus Vakarian

Garrus nodded. He wouldn't expect anyone to be as good a medic as Mordin, but at least it was some medical training. Not every injury could be treated by slapping gel on it and walking it off.

"Good to know. Once we get full intel I will decide our tactics." Garrus was feeling annoyed about not having a better overview of the facility they were heading in to. He went back over by Tali, but stayed quiet. Everyone needed to get prepared for this, and he didn't want to interrupt their focus.

 

[LeoHawk35]

Legion

Legion stood at the usual "meeting spot" for missions and looked over to Garrus and Tali as they entered. It was unusual to see them in such a friendly state. Past records showed no real "friendship" between the two. Legion twitched his mandible plates and looked down at his rifle still in his hands. He ran a few checks through the system and logged personnel locations as per Sheperd-Commander's orders. He idly ran over repair records from his work on the AI Core. There was still much work to be done.

He also ran through the audio/video feeds and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He closed them down and planted a runtime in a highly encrypted file system to continue the recordings and monitoring while he was off-ship. He ran through and fine-tuned a few of the firewalls of the system to ensure no outside tampering. It was a Geth system, plain and simple. Very few could breach firewalls such as those.

Legion brought up his omni tool and checked his own synthetics. He had received a round through a piece of his muscle, but he had mended it and it healed excellently. No other issues with his mobile platform. He nodded to himself, twitched his mandibles again, and looked back up.

 

[Nidhogg]

Garrus Vakarian

Garrus hadn't noticed Legion at first. For a lone geth with a large hole and chunks of N7 armor, Legion blended in to the background well. It was unlikely that Legion would have a problem with the roster change, but Garrus quickly learned that Legion was full of surprises.

Garrus walked over to the geth. "Legion, I'm putting you on Jacob's team and taking Tali on to mine. Any objections?"

 

[LeoHawk35]

Legion

Legion turned his head towards Garrus as he approached. He nodded at him in greeting, then brought up the files for Jacob and Baxter. He had already reviewed Baxter and was not very pleased. The way he acts and his service record are not very impressive. Conceited is the biological word. Jacob was another story. He was a leader and had not fallen to the same trap his father had. He seems to have taken his father's conclusion very well. He then brought up the service record for Jack. "Subject Zero."

Impressive, to say the least. She was heavily trained and bred to be the most effective biotic in the galaxy. Whether or not that was true remained to be seen. At any rate, Legion was sure they would not have any problems on the mission. Both teams seemed balanced.

He and Garrus had similar combat skills, so having them in the same place was a waste of ability. Tali had the tech skills of the quarians, so she could do the same job he did with the hacking. By placing Legion on the second team, that team would also have his long range fire support and his hacking skills in case they ran into problems. The codes would be acquired by team one and sent to him, and he would then use them to get team two where they needed to go.

The actual time that passed between Garrus asking the question and Legion's response was roughly two point three five seconds.

"We have no objections." he said simply.

Legion understood that he went where he was needed and did not argue. No reason. He twitched his right plate before becoming still again, still looking at Garrus and waiting for his response, if there was a response.

 

[Avellan13]

Vincent Anastasio

Vincent sighed in frustration, whomever had sabotaged the engines had been good at covering there tracks. Not to mention they had done a 'terrific' job on damaging the engines.

He walked around in search for Legion and he found him talking to Garrus. He approached Legion with some hesitation. From what he knew, Geth spoke in an odd way that took a lot of patience and determination.

"Legion, I need to talk to you. While checking the engines of the Normandy found something.. unusual. It seems that they`ve been sabotaged, and quite extensively at that. It`s proving difficult to fix and I was wonder if you`ve noticed anything of a similar sort?"

 

[LeoHawk35]

Legion

Legion turned to Vincent. Why he would seek him out for something like this was odd. It didn't matter, though, because he had noticed several bits of sabotage. The AI Core was hit fairly well. The engines, as he had read from Anastasio's own report, had also taken a bit of sabotage. Legion flexed his upper plates before answering.

"We have." he responded to the question.

Maybe he came to him seeking assistance in the repairs? Sounds like something Creator Tali would usually do. Legion was always ready to offer aid, however. Surely Creator Tali would not argue if he went near the engines now. He had proven his loyalty.

"Did you need our assistance in the repairs?" he queried.

It would have to wait until after the mission, of course. But afterwards, he could take a look at them. Under Creator Tali's close watch, he was sure.

 

[Avellan13]

"Yes I might need help later with the engines, but I`m mainly concerned about finding out who did this sabotage and why."

He looked around and glanced around at the others. "After the mission is over, I`m going to do some investigative work. If you notice anything in the mean time, please tell me. I hate traitors, especially one who would dare threaten Commander Shepard, she`s humanities last best chance for survival. If she dies.... well it won`t good."

He nods to Legion then walks back to prepare for the upcoming mission.

 

[DormantEvil]

Commander Shepard

Finally a more accurate location to the Blue Suns cache had been sent through. Shepard had been waiting on more detailed information ever since alerting the crew of the mission. EDI had updated her on the progress of the shuttle teams. They were almost ready. So she had to be quick in preparing the data that would help them on the ground.

Currently she had already updated maps of the area, along with current statistics on what it would be like. There was information on the strength and locations of Blue Suns operatives within the area. Along with likely helpful information they could use if they got stuck or had to change the plans on the ground.

Pushing her chair back, Shepard picked up the two data pads containing the information and headed to the elevator. Soon arriving in the shuttle bays to present each team leader with the intelligence. Finding Jacob and Garrus with their teams, she passed over the data pads. Each was encrypted to have a cover document accessable to everyone, it looked like a random ship manifest. But they had access to the real document hidden underneath.

”Sorry for the delay. This should get you on the ground, into both facilities and to the information we require. Expect resistance early on, the drop site is just outside the compounds walls. But your long range support can handle them. They have several mechs set up and on guard, so prepare for those once you enter the compound. I've also received word that several powerful biotics are within the facilities. Other than that, should be a walk in the park for both of you. Once you get the codes to Team Two, move to the pick up point or to provide cover for the extraction of the weapons caches. Team Two, you'll be moving into place at the same time...ready to breach the crates the moment codes are passed over. They are high level, I believe obtaining the codes instead of hacking will be quicker, and easier. Plus they crates are rigged, so hacking is highly dangerous.”

The datapad showed all of this information, along with the new squad layouts.

Garrus, Tali, Vincent and Morinth
Jacob, Legion, Baxter and Jack

”I'll be on comms if you need, otherwise I have...pressing matters to attend to here. Good luck.”

Giving Garrus a nod, along with Jacob, Shepard looked over the two teams before heading back towards the elevator.

--------------------------------------------------

Jack

"Damn Baxter, you keep giving me more enjoyable reasons to kill.And the after party."

Laughing loudly and with a sort of menace to her tone, Jack leaned back in her seat and flexed her muscles. Stretching each arm up above her head. She breathed in deeply, today was a good day.


[Details of the planet and size of compounds are up to you guys...have fun!]

 

[RebelJap8O8]

Derek Baxter

The Sergeant gave his crotch a pat at Jack's words, and his grin grew wider. "All for you, baby." But he didn't stick around for a reply. He spotted Shepard and walked within earshot of Jacob and Garrus. A habit from when he was with the Alliance. A trooper with no information might as well give up his armor and weapons, lie down, and become a sandbag for the rest of the team.

When Shepard left, Derek cleared his throat loudly to catch the attention of the two leaders. "As always I've got the Cain." He hefted it up with one hand and loosely dropped it onto his shoulder, being careful to keep his finger off the trigger, safety still engaged. "Before we fucked the Illusive Man, I was able to get him to give up some extra research on the Nuke Gun and outfit the Shuttle with a portable armory capable of reloading this thing at least once. If we do a fly by over our entry point to the compound with the door open, I can clear a path through those mechs and part of the wall, reload, and be able to use it again when we're on the ground...if we need it. Whatdya say?"

 

[Nidhogg]

Garrus Vakarian

Garrus walked over to Baxter. He didn't know the man well, but he knew enough to not like or trust him any more than was required.

"The Cain stays here. I don't need you blowing out the electronics in our only entrance. No one, I mean no one is using that thing unless Shepard specifically says to. This mission isn't about destruction, we have to retrieve that cache or there is no point. Even if we did need that damn thing, I'd would let Jack carry the nuke-gun before you."

Garrus did a quick turn to Jack. "I know, you don't need a gun to make giant explosions, I was just making a point." Garrus then looked over at Jacob. "He's on your team for this, if you want him to have a heavy that is fine, but not the Cain."

Garrus barely trusted Shepard to shoot that thing responsibly, so there was no fucking chance he'd be fine with Baxter firing it. Garrus didn't feel comfortable with that man having anything more dangerous than a boiled egg.

 

[RebelJap8O8]

Derek Baxter

Derek didn't hear everything Garrus said. As soon as he opened his mouth, the human tuned him out. Though he knew enough about his response to reply. "This isn't THE Cain. This is A Cain. I had Cerberus make another one and specifically encode it to be fired by me and me only, via DNA scanner in the pistol grip. And since Cerberus units are mostly of the non-existant type you can bet there is no tracker in the weapon. On top of that, I qualified with it when I was with the Alliance. It stays with me, and the only way for you to take it away is to pry it out of my cold, hands. Get it, fuckin dinosaur?"
The last part? Not a very high known insult since Derek seemed to be the only one who ever used it...
But you have to admit...Turians do look like Dinosaurs.

 

[Nidhogg]

Garrus Vakarian

Garrus didn't hesitate. He delivered a hard blow right across Baxter's jaw and had his pistol out before the uppity human recovered. Garrus' finger was on the trigger and was ready to shoot.

"Get this straight, you little fuck. Shepard put me in charge of this mission. I don't give two shits what cock you had to suck in the Alliance to get "qualified" but I am saying that gun does not come on my mission. So here are your options, fall in line or leave. We do not need a hotheaded piece of crap like you around. We function as a team on this ship and your ego has no place on a team."

 

[Avellan13]

Vincent heard the raised voices from Derek and Garrus. "Sorry Legion, but I have to go check out and see what`s going on." He nodded to the Geh then turned and walked over to the area where the voices were coming from.

As he arrived, he heard only the last few bits of Dereks ccomment. Vincent walked over to Derek andlooked at him with a glare, "Listen here buddy, you need to calm down. I don`t like turian much either, but we don`t need to exchange threats. Now how about we all just get along ok? We all got off on the wrong foot," He held out his hand, "So how about we make amends? You like to drink? Well i know where some of the best alcoholic beverages can be found. As my form of sorry I`ll get some of those drinks for you?"

 

[RebelJap8O8]

As Derek was...man-handled by the Turian, he cooly kept his anger down. Now, face to face with the guy, he had a nice grin on his face. One that looked sheepish and downright mischievous. "Don't know where you come from, but my last assignment...it's generally a bad idea to get up in someone's face like this because you can't see certain things like a primed grenade." As he said this last part his right hand came up holding an already primed grenade. He was cooking it off and if he let his fingers go it would go off. Putting the pin back in was the only solution to diffuse it, but an explosion that happens in .137 seconds is very hard to beat, even for the Geth standing near by, or the Salarian Commando who was...wherever.

When Vincent came up, however, Derek was not expecting him to be all buddy-buddy. Listening to the man for a while, he gave a heavy sigh and shook his head. Using his left hand, he popped the pin back into the grenade and put it back on his belt. "Fine...but I'm still taking the Cain."