Mass Effect: Terminus

Elvis

He left the human to play with his new toy. He wish he had left the blasted thing on that planet where he found it, but fate is a funny thing. Not to much longer after he had entered the elevator, heading down to the Captain's cabin, he received a memo on what they needed to keep the life support from turning off permanently.

He gritted his teeth. If it was that bad then he could only imagine what the rest of the place would require. They needed a credits infusion and they needed it sooner than later.

He headed to his Captain room and knocked on the door, "Your First Mate believes you had something to talk to him about? "

Fehln Davris

He couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride at being recognized. It was the recognition of a mark, but it was recognition nonetheless. And the way she spoke of perhaps having a duel one day, to battle only as two competing hunters would, it was rare that he found someone willing to speak to him or any other in such a way.

"If it was early in your career, then perhaps it was right of you to turn down such a hunt. A hunter should never take on something they know is greater than they are, for pride is a threat greater than any target, be it a beast or another being you hunt." He brushed his missing mandible absentmindedly as he said this, almost feeling as though the missing part of him was still there, only to find nothing. He knew better than most what happened when a hunter let pride rule them.

"And if we do indeed cross blades as you put it, you better hope I don't have a rifle with me when it happens. I may be good with with my other weapons, but that's expected of a turian, I've had a rifle in my hand for most of my life, and I've done my best to never let my skills dull." He did not notice the quarian had even entered until he spoke up, pulling the weapons toward him as he finished with Gerard's, giving them a quick scan with his omni-tool just to be safe before he began to work on the quarian's weapons.

Kiares

Upon Elvis knocking, a door opened. It was however not the one to the captain’s quarters, but the one of the First Mate’s quarters. Stepping out of that room, Kiares answered:
“I have. And your captain remembers saying we would have that talk in your room.”

Not waiting for a reply, she stepped back into Elvis’s room and sat down on the nearest chair.

Elvis had a tick in his eye. He was hoping he had heard her wrong the first time and made a mental note to have the locks on his door FIXED. There are just some things he would like to keep semi-private. Knowing that half of his crew would be able to break any lock, it was the principle of the thing.

He walked ovr and entered his room after Kiares. Taking a seat at his terminal, looking back to her. Placing his hands over one another he looked at her, "So ...Captain....I am assuming you would like to thank me for taking all the painstaking work to free you in such a short amount of time as well as set things up here. Then I think we need to discuss work, because according to our engineer, we are going to need credits and the faster the better. And what a lovely shade of blue you are today might I add."

*Inhlae*

Ken was half listening to him as his mind was a bit preoccupied, so the gravity of what was said passed by him at first.
"Coding a V.I.? Hmm I have a good amount of experience with that. I'm sure I could create something quick as you like. What seems to be the quirks?" He inquires, he figured there must be something wrong with the V.I. For Gerard to have asked him for help, so soon after the somewhat hostile approach Ken had talked to him with last time. He took the moment to look about the room, opening his omni-tool to see if he had anything still stashed away.

Gerard Kalgard

It figured that the Quarian heard what he wanted to hear. Gerard would have to make this as blunt as possible.

"Not a virtual intelligence, an artificial intelligence. The problem, you see, is that it doesn't like being turned off. Wiping memory of the shutdown is easy enough. but I need your help in coding an algorithm that will create false memories that fill in the time elapsed between shutdown and reactivation."

Sashryn Velentor

The human couldn't help but give a dry chuckle at the Turian's words.

"Hope you don't have your rifle? I would have it no other way. What is a hunt without a challenge? And make no mistake, I wouldn't limit myself in such a situation, and I would expect you to do the same."

The young woman enjoyed speaking with the Turian. He identified himself as a hunter, and that was exactly what Sashryn was. So few could speak with her in such a way, as so few understood it. Of course, she hasn't spoken to many people in the first place since she took up her job.

She continued scanning her rifle with her newly-programmed omni-tool. There would have to be a few minor adjustments to enhance the accuracy, but nothing serious. She began working on those minor changes, and as she did, her omni-tool stated that the security programming was finished. If she so desired, she could now attempt to hack into the starbase's security. It wouldn't be difficult, either, considering the low security it was equipped with.

Fehln Davris

He actually let out a bark of laughter at her response. Despite being considered an assassin, she really was a hunter at heart. It was rare that he met someone that identified themselves as such, and he found that he enjoyed their company in the short times he was with them. But the hunt always called, and he was forced to leave them for another bounty, but perhaps he had a more permanent associate.

"A hunt without a challenge is like a soldier with no battles to be fought: pointless. But do not mistake my preference for weakness," he warned as he finished going over the quarian's weapons. Nothing really wrong with them, guards knew how to maintain their weapons if nothing else. "A hunter must adapt as their prey gains the possibility of reversing the roles, otherwise they'll be left to rot with those they've already killed, and make way for those stronger than themselves."

He brought her pistol and his own weapons to him and began inspecting them. He'd preferred having his operating at peak efficiency, and he wanted to know whether the pistol was from a guard or actually hers.

Sashryn Velentor

"And the ideal is to never let the prey know they are being hunted, so that they never have the opportunity to switch the roles. Cunning, in great enough amounts, can surpass any strength."

The woman responded. She truly enjoyed speaking to the Turian about this. She was glad that they would be seeing each other consistently. Or at least, more consistently that anyone she had seen the four years prior. When she noticed Fehln begin to work on her pistol, she looked up from her omni-tool.

"Keep that one separate. I will probably be modifying it."

Fehln Davris

"I couldn't have said it better myself. Though there is only so much cunning can do for you, the same with skill. Some times, it's all up to luck, or whatever you believe in, to deliver death to the hunted. And when that happens, you give it your all for a ferocious fight, or to go down fighting."

This human, Flare, truly was a hunter after his own heart. In a time such as theirs, it was rare to find people like themselves who had a love for hunting, the skills of the past. Hunting was good on your own, but he had never truly hunted with another since his childhood with his father and friends.

When she asked him to keep her pistol out of his inspection, he moved it aside without a word, and resumed work on his weapons, taking them apart piece by piece to inspect every inch of them.

Sashryn Velentor

The young woman took the pistol, after she had finished examining her rifle, and began disassembling it. She would check it to see if it needed cleaning, as well as begin thinking about possible attachments. As she did so, she began speaking again.

"You know, for all my talk of hunting and prey, I've yet to hunt an animal. All of my prey have been sentient. Maybe one day, if we have spare time, you and I can go on a hunt. I wouldn't mind brining home some new trophies." The thought of going on a hunt brought her to the memory of her past. As soon as it came up, however, she quickly shut it out, as she had been for the last four years. Deciding to get her mind on a differing subject, she asked the Turian a question.

"What do you know about our 'captain'?"

Ken stood silent for a moment, staring at the human with his glowing eyes.
"An... artificial intelligence. One that does not like being shut off?" He let the words slide out of his mouth slowly, thinking over what was said. Then he suddenly spoke quickly.
"I have just the thing for A.I.s It's called C4, Lots and lots of C4. I can even provide it and plant it, free of charge."

Gerard Kalgard

This reaction was anticipated, but was still unpleasant.

"The V.I. on this rust bucket is too mono-tasked to be of any use. On the other hand, this A.I. will be necessary for conducting the required repairs. We already have multiple fail-safes in check to terminate the A.I. if it goes rogue. Hell, I'll blow the damn thing myself if it comes to that. You don't trust these things; I get that. Nobody in their right mind does. But the problem is that we need one until at least the vital systems are adequately restored. When I don't need it anymore, I'll shut it down for good.

Until that time comes though, I need a way to assure its cooperation. Erasing memory of each shutdown and filling the elapsed time with new memories is the most practical approach, but it would take me a very long time to develop such an algorithm on my own. That is why I called you down. If you want nothing to do with this, you can walk away; nobody's stopping you. Otherwise, I'll need you to help me create the code in your free time. Fair enough?"

Ken thought for a moment, tapping the side of his helmet while going over what Gerard said.
Shackling an A.I. was possible, however whatever can be done can be undone, hence what happened to his people and the Geth.
However it would not be good for the whole place to come crashing down due to a worthless V.I.
After a very long and slightly awkward time Ken rubbed his hand over his mask and looked Gerard in the eye.
"Very well, I'll help. I would rather there not be an A.I. Anywhere within a couple hundred jumps off me. But if I do have to live with the fact that there is one on this station then I will sleep better keeping an eye on it myself. Send me a copy of it's base Code and I'll get to work, the sooner this thing is settled the better I'll feelt."

Fehln Davris

So she had yet to actually hunt animals yet. Sentient life was considered the most dangerous prey by many, but one should never believe an animal is less than they are. The missing section of his mandible was a constant reminder that even animals had their secrets, and they could be more even more dangerous than a person. He was going to have to show her some of the better planets he hunted on.

"What do I know about our captain? Aside from the fact that she seems like the kind of person I bring in when alive is the option and not the expectation. Still, the salarian offered me the first job I've had in some time that could actually give me some decent pay and perhaps there's more to her than I've seen." He managed to finish disassembling his weapons and began going over the pieces he believed might have a potential problem, looking over at her with a small smirk.

"And don't worry about that hunt, I know the perfect planets to for something like that."

Gerard Kalgard

"As you wish," he said alongside a sigh of relief. As requested, Gerard sent a copy of the A.I.'s code to Ken's omnitool. He then returned to the console and accessed the security systems.

"Can't have the A.I. accessing this conversation," he said in a low tone, half explaining himself to the Quarian and half muttering to himself. He brought up the security footage of the room and erased the previous 48 minutes and 17 seconds. If amount of time that mysteriously vanished was too "neat" it would look like intentional tampering. In this way, it would look more like a malfunction, which would not be suspicious considering the station's condition.

"I've sent Elvis a list of parts I need to conduct repairs. If you have anything to add to the list before our next mission, I'll pass it along."

He hoped the Quarian would get the hint of trying to pass this off as a normal conversation. After all, every other security camera on the station watched Ken come in the room. Making sure Nohansen didn't catch drift of what he was planning was the most critical thing on his mind right now. True, he could erase the footage again, and it would be his own fault for failing to communicate his intent previously. But that was rather tedious.

Sashryn Velentor

The woman looked back at him and nodded.

"I look forward to it, once we get the time."

"I'm not sure how I feel about the captain myself; I agree that she seems quite dangerous. Hopefully she can provide me with my first stable job In a while, though. Hopefully she finds no reasons to make us the target of her strength."

She finished cleaning the pistol, and set it down next to her rifle. What to do now.... she turned to the Turian, and asked him a question.

"Do you recall there being a firing range on board? Or anything that could be used as one?"

Fehln Davris

He couldn't really recall any firing ranges, Elvis had said this place used to be a mining facility so turning this place into what they needed was going to take some time anyways. He brought up the map again on his omni-tool and reviewed the map once again.

"By the look of things we're going to need to improvise somehow, and even then we might not have enough room for one anyways." Not good for people like them, accuracy was what made them what they were, and going too long without some decent training wouldn't do them any good.

Sashryn Velentor

Sashryn nodded as Fehln gave his report.

"No, I suppose there wouldn't be one, would there. I should bring it up when I make my request to the captain. In the meantime, I doubt our skills will get too rusty."

Done with both her firearms and her omni-tool, Sashryn leaned back against the wall of the armory and asked Fehln a question.

"Have you ever done this before? Worked with a team, that is."

Ken paused for a moment, tapping a finger on his helmet.
"I Do have a need for a couple of items, mostly software and the like. I have a few things i need to do as well as upgrade this places security as it is sorely lacking" He said, rolling his eyes as he thought about how easy it was to get into the command room earlier.

He held up his hand and sent a message to Gerard through his Omni-tool, the list had several programs listed out on it as well as some odds and ends.

"If there is nothing else?" He said as he took a step back, about to leave through the door again.

Fehln Davris

"I've occasionally worked with others in some of my hunts. A partner was rare, most of that work was with three or four others, with one hunt where I worked with five and almost considered full on mercenary work. But I was never with them for long, the call was too much back then, and it was back to working alone and looking for the next mark. I've gotten better about the call though, and unless our captain gives me a reason to leave, I think I'll be in this for the long run."

He moved Gerard's weapons so they were back to being in front of him once again, and began smoothing out the dents and other problems with them they had taken from the beatings, while at the same time putting his own back together piece by piece.

Gerard Kalgard

Gerard nodded to Ken, granting his leave. He then looked at the Omni-tool and forwarded the list to Elvis, with a message that read, "These are the programs Ken says are required for upgraded our security systems."

Before pressing the send button, Gerard figured he'd add an addendum for no reason other than to satisfy his curiosity.

"Have you or the captain found a job for us? We need to get the credits rolling in ASAP."

Sashryn Velentor

The young woman nodded at Fehln as she finished with her weapons.

"I myself have never worked regularly with anyone. In fact, I have avoided. My line of work seems to do best when I am a mysterious threat, a simple name with a list of the dead attached to it. Personal interaction simply makes me only human, and that hurts business. Or at least, that's what I thought. But being trapped in that prison back there made me realize something. If I hadn't been there when 'Elvis' broke in, I would have rotted. Now, I'm not so sure that if I were caught now, that anyone would help me. But at least there is a chance." Finishing her explanation, Sashryn made for the door, briefly stopping and looked back at the man.

"I look forward to the hunt." And with that, she left.

She walked down the hallways and elevators until she made her way to the first mate's room. She knew better that to disturb the captain during a conference, inexperienced though she was, and simply waited outside. She had some things to discuss with the Captain, and was willing to wait.

Kiares

“Gratitude is a notion reserved for close personal friends, and strangers who can't function without constant assurance of their worth. You are neither.” Kiares replied dryly “And since you have, unlike me, not spent the last month inside a cell, I must be correct in the assumption that you have already compiled a list of profitable venues?”

“But of course my dear deadly blue wonder... aside from working night and day to create a plan and jery rig two shuttles on the fly to save that ass of yours, I have had plenty of time to scrounge up some work for the new crew t odie over like the last one.”

Unimpressed by the Salarian’s sarcasm, the asari stated: “If someone is as confident in his abilities as you are, he shouldn't be surprised when others expect him to life up to the hype. Besides, culling the less resourceful has never hurt the gene-pool before.”

>spoken like a true asari<, said Elvis under his breath. "But I have a contract or two, always people out there wanting no names like us to do their dirty or idiots who open there mouths too loud and reviel the location of very expensive items."

“I don't need a lecture about how unfair the universe is, least of all from you. A lecture about the job options is the urgent matter.”

“Then boss, you have the choice of deciding whether some Alliance military die or hunting a somewhat important individual on a not so important planet.”

Kiare’s voice only betrayed the barest amount of interest: “Intriguing. A choice would depend on how many alliance soldiers would have to die, and what species the important individual is, plus its profession.”

The Salarian leaned back on the wall, his eyes becoming unfocused as he walked the halls of his minds to find the information she requested. Being former STG, not to mention a Salarian, meant that you soak up information better than any other race and at a faster rate. He finally gathered what he needed in his mind before he started to talk. "Alliance frigate: SSV Trafalgar, carrying supplies and reinforcements to forward bases in the Terminus systems. Trying to stabilize the region, their only opportunity to before the warlords and Aria retake power in the system. One of many, the employer wants us to disable the vessel, either steal or destroy the supplies. Stealth and subterfuge would be key in this one."

He rubbed one of his horns and started again: "The second job is a hit, and as many that had died in the war it would seem that people are more ruthless than ever to gain an upper hand in the system so full of uncertainty. This particular assignment targets a rather wealthy Volus on Illium. He deals in Red Sand, brokering information, and generally trying to gather all power to him as the less established crime bosses scramble for the bits and pieces. the Competition wants him dead before he really takes over.... The fun part will be getting passed all the guards and into his office, which is not at the top of a tower, could just use a sniper for that, but at the centre of an abandoned complex..."

After giving it some thought, the asari answered: “As it so happens, I like the current state of the Terminus, so the Alliance upsetting the status quo is undesirable. Additionally, an Alliance frigate is likely to have worthier parts to steal than a crime-lords office, at least in our current state. While there is the possibility of the many humans on this crew taking issue with the nature of our target, none of them seemed like the type to deem the racial parts of militaries too important, so it’s a slight risk easily countered by a good exit plan. We'll give the crew the details in our meeting tomorrow, after everyone has gotten some rest. Anything else you'd like to talk about?”

“Multiple things captain.” Elvis was quick to answer. “Realize that I do not want to have to bust anyone else out of prison. Much less an Alliance competently run prison. Second, I do not want to have to hire another crew, words gets out slowly in the Terminus systems these days , but it does get out. And thirdly, most of this missions pay off will have to go to the station, before it becomes our tomb.”

Kiares slightly leaned her head forward, the asari equivalent of a raised eyebrow.
“Elvis himself advocating restraint and caution. I'd say the end of the universe is near, but as it is, it already happened. But don't worry your horns of, if the Alliance is smart, they'll shoot to kill. Plus, the two of us can deal without luxury, and half of the crew wasn't traditionally hired, freedom is a reward of its own. Lastly, people die, no matter how competent you are. Deal with it.”

"People die, deal with it, you sound like my teacher explaining the Salarian life span. And I know that oh great blue one, but all I am concerned about is how much of a headache it gives me having to fix gigantic messes. I am used to causing them, not fixing them. And from the look of the crew so far we will not find much better. Anyone else we might hire will not be as skilled or...diverse in terms of abilities. They have no real allegiances, which works to our favour. I would like to keep them long enough to remind me what solid ground feels like. As first mate I am charged with keeping things afloat while the captain leads. So illustrious one....How was jail?”

“First mate is the wrong job if you intend to avoid headaches.” The asari replied without any sympathy. “As for prison, I had better and I had worse ones. Now if we are finished here....”

“Yes we are...I would like to have me room back.”

“Done.”

And with that, Kiares had already turned and walked out of the door, almost colliding with the human female.

Throwing a critical gaze her way, she asked:
“Anything you need to say?”

Sashryn Velentor

Sashryn had been waiting for a while, and her mind began to drift. Thinking about various things, from previous missions to books she had read. She almost got run into by the new captain, but she quickly stepped back and avoided collision. Once the Asari had addressed her, Sashryn nodded once.

"I do, captain. I have some personal affects hidden on Illium. Most of them are simply vanity items, the few I have chosen to afford, but there are some items that could prove useful, namely some information on security systems and a few scopes. I assumed you would wish to know, captain, as they are potential assets."