Mass Effect RP: The Aegis Protection Firm - Full

[axle 19]

Raven walked rapidly into the hanger before leaping into the Gauntlet's open bay doors. Leaping into the pilot's seat, he ran through the startup sequences and was rewarded with the engines roaring to life. Good thing I learned how to pilot this thing. Glancing over his shoulder, he nodded as Verahl led Paladin into the Gauntlet before taking off to the location the company used to deal with "problems."

 

[lemiel14n3]

Paladin sat down, "so much for a good first impression" he thought. "I nearly got Terina and Jetta killed, and then I nearly kill Karnak. Sure I didn't mean to, but that doesn't matter when my teammate is lying on a cot covered in holes"

 

[The Zango]

'Damn man, even if Paladin was a bit of a dick hurting Karnak like that, I wouldn't wish whatever Verhal is going to do to him on anyone, especially with Verhal's way of going slightly over the top sometimes...'

Ocara sat next to Karnak's injured form, his long fingers drumming away slowly at the table that was next to him. While the Batarian wasn't perfect, Ocara liked to think that they were alright pals, despite Karnak's tendency to make remarks every now and again. After a few more minutes, Ocara stood up and stretched, there was going to be no use in loitering around Karnak, likelihood was that he'd be out for a while, which was a shame, especially since he'd just woken up.

"See you man" muttered Ocara, before leaving the medi-bay, kicking the golf ball that Miles had just nudged perfectly towards his makeshift target.

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Minutes later, Ocara was sitting in the common room, trying to think of how to kill the time and clear his head. At times like this, he would usually track down Esten, but the Salarian had dissappeared for the moment, as he was prone to doing now and then. Instead, this time Ocara turned his head upwards from looking at the table and spoke to Lux.

"Lux, what do you think'll happen to Paladin?"

 

[Chicago Ted]

Verahl:

When the Gauntlet touched down once again, Verahl was the first to walk out of the cockpit. Paladin had been left alone in the bay of the ship, and the door between the two areas had been locked. He stood silently to the side, glaring at him, as Raven walked out next.

"Get out," he said as touched a button near the door to the cockpit. The ramp to the back of the Gauntlet slowly descended before hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Raven then marched Paladin out of the ship. They were on one of the lower levels of the district, but not as close to the Dusk border as they were The ship had landed in what appeared to be a vacant lot. It had likely been used for loading and unloading transports years ago, but it had long since been abandoned. The occassional transport could be heard flying by, but there was hardly any traffic down here.

"Make sure his amp is off," Verahl called from the ramp of the Gauntlet. He was methodically taking off his things. He first removed his jacket, folding it neatly so it wouldn't crease or fold. He then emptied his pockets of the few items he kept in them such as his credit chit.

 

[Chicago Ted]

Lux:

"If Verahl has sense left, he's going to use it to beat some into him," Lux said with a small chuckle. "Poor little fuck laid out one of Verahl's favourites."

He continued to rummage through the fridge as he looked for something to eat.

"Where has that damn Salarian gone?!" He finally shouted as he slammed the fridge door shut.

He looked around, scanning the room from side to side, half expecting his call to frighten Dray down from wherever he had gone, before letting out an irritated grunt and turning to lean against one of the kitchen counters.

"He's been gone all morning, normally you can find him hiding somewhere around here," he said, not bothering to continue talking about Paladin.

 

[lemiel14n3]

Paladin walked down the ramp, his head high, he briefly thought of the appropriateness of the ship name, given what seemed to be about to happen. "You don't have to worry about me hitting back Verahl. But before you lay into me, let me give you my side". Paladin saw Verahl was done with his preparations, he kept his hands up, palms out at his chest.

"Let me speak my piece, if you still believe I deserve what's coming, then I'll take my licks without complaint."

 

[Chicago Ted]

Verahl:

"I will only repeat myself once. Amp. Off," he said before looking at Raven. "Or would you prefer Raven rip it out?"

He slowly turned back to Paladin as he cracked his neck from side to side, and descended down the ramp.

"Speak," his voice commanded.

 

[lemiel14n3]

Paladin got the hint, he reached to the back of his neck and fingered the interface that controlled his bio amp, turning off the device that synchronized his nervous system, and enabled his full control, he was still a biotic, but with the device off, he could only lift about 5 pounds, with effort.

Ethan turned and looked Verahl in the eyes that were on his own level, "I know Karnak's type, If I had let him, he'd walk all over me, so I knocked him down to show I was no pushover, beyond that, it was up to him. He fought back dirty, I pushed him against the wall so I could leave without both of us having to go visit doc. Miles. I had heard he was on the mend, if I knew it was still that bad, I would have handled it differently. There, that's my side."

 

[New York Patrick]

Spoiler: OoC

Wow, figures I would go away for two days while all of THIS happened... Damn my inconsistant activity...

Korat entered the common area in a hurry, having heard what had happened. He had been (at the advice of the obnoxious human known as Brooks) trying to immerse in the nightlife of Omega, with little result. He found the music of the nightclubs to be too loud, and the lights a distraction, limiting his visual accuracy to 88% of its total efficiency. Not to mention he did not quite 'fit in' with the nightlife; he didn't quite understand the appeal in the pointless, shallow mating rituals, the intoxicants, the dancing. Especially the dancing. Korat could not understand what was so enthralling about a leather-clad, half naked Asari dancing around a pole.

He was just always different like that.

"This is why I should not have left," he exclaimed to the others as he barreled into the common room. Ocara, and the other krogan, Lux were seated, talking. He sensed high stress levels, worry, fear: they were unsure of the fates of both Karnak and his assailant, and were concerned about both to some degree.

He slowed his pace as he walked up to them. He had recieved the news while in the lower end of the district, and had been running since, no doubt maiming that salarian fruit merchant and his elderly elcor customer. He imagined it might be a terrifying thing to see: an armored Krogan running full speed towards you, a look of intensity and an undercurrent of rage lighting his eyes.

Of course, he didn't care what that was like. He just imagined it was terrifying.

Slowly, hesitating, he sat in the chair across from Ocara. He wondered where to start. Should he ask where Verahl went? Who else was there? How everyone was taking it?

"What is the medical status of the Batarian?"

 

[Chicago Ted]

Verahl:

"His type?," Verahl said slowly, barely holding back his anger. "His FUCKING type?!"

Verahl couldn't contain himself anymore. He brought his right arm far back and then straight into the side of Paladin's face. He watched as Paladin fell to the ground. He slowly uncletched his fist as he looked down on him.

"Get up," he said, disgusted. "You wanted to start a fight with a Batarian, you've got one now."

 

[Chicago Ted]

Lux:

"He's back in hospital," Lux said as he started obnoxiously tapping his fingers on the counter. "Paladin hit him with his Biotics, pinned him to a wall. Caused most of the wounds Miles had patched up to rupture. Lot of blood."

He then turned and grabbed a small glass from one of the cupboards and started looking for a drink.

"Miles was able to patch him back up though, think he called it his masterpiece or something. Ver wasn't too happy about that one. Claims that it'll be at least a few more days before he recovers again though."

 

[lemiel14n3]

Paladin stood, looking Verahl in the eyes, he said nothing, nothing would help, besides, he gave his word. Verahl hit him again, in the gut this time, the wind knocked explosively out of Ethan's lungs. Verahl kept up the assault, each time Ethan took longer and longer to stand up, but each time, he stood up, looked Verahl in the face until getting beat down again. Ethan kept his word, he took his licks without complaining, uttering only responsive grunts and wheezes. Verahl hit Paladin a final time on the face, a loud sounded out as Ethan's nose left its customary position when his face hit the ground. Paladin stood back up, bleeding, long since past bruised, his nose bent out of shape.

Paladin, pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger, and violently snapped it back into place, a low groan leaving his lips at this new pain. Then looked Verahl in the face again, or rather, slightly to the right as his vision had long since blurred, he breathed a raspy wheeze and stood as tall as his beaten body would allow.

 

[Chicago Ted]

Verahl:

Verahl glared as Paladin, before giving him the final series of blows. Another punch to the chest to wind him, followed by an elbow to his back while he was bent over, sending him right back into the ground. This time though, Verahl didn't allow him to get back up, instead grabbing the back of Paladin's collar, dragging him back to the Gauntlet, and dropping him near the bottom of the ramp. He then flipped him over, so the two's faces were only inches apart. He placed his arm across his neck, placing just enough pressure on it to make Paladin's breathing more difficult than it already was, but not enough to choke him.

"Now, I will tell you this once, and only once," Verahl said slowly and quietly, almost whispering it to Paladin. "If you cause this company any more trouble, if you send someone else to the infirmary, or have those Biotics flare on us one more time, I will bring you back, to this same spot, and when I'm done, you'll have to crawl back to your ship because you won?t be welcomed back to the Elixir."

He then released his grip, and got off of Paladin, walking back into the Gauntlet and towards the cockpit.

"Get us back to base Raven."

 

[New York Patrick]

Korat grunted in relief at Lux's comments.

"Good. I was afraid there would be long term damage. Karnak is an asset to operations. Still, we are going to be less productive while one, if not two members short."

Korat didn't just consider his team members to be disposable stock or minor aggrivations. If they were effective, they were possitive assets; He felt "closest" to those who worked well and in his favor. Brooks may be obnoxious at times, but Korat would still kill for him. It was a principle of Krogan honor, yes, but also of mutual benefit.

The same went with Karnak. Sure, he was brash, uncalculating or reckless at times, from what Korat had observed. The decision to start taunting paladin was not a wise one, even if there hadn't been a biotic altercation. But Karnak was part of this team, like part of a family unit. Damage done to him would effect everyone, and that was not good.

Korat sat silently for a few moments before speaking again.

"Now I am hungry..."

 

[lemiel14n3]

Paladin lay beaten, not broken, but beaten all to hell. Even with the medical technology available at best he would be too bruised to move around much tomorrow, at worst it'd be a few days before he'd be able to breathe comfortably. His mind was still working though, "Wonder what his deal with biotics is?" Ethan had met anti-biotics fundamentalists before, but military types had always appreciated the usefulness of their abilities, and Verahl seemed to make a special point of Ethan's biotics, rather than just his actions. A rather inane train of thought, but the distraction helped to keep his mind off the pain.

Paladin lay on the floor of the Gauntlet, and then the name hit him, "Gauntlet" After all he just went through, Paladin could laugh at the coincidence, but the best he could manage at the time was a sort of gurgle-cough, interspersed with an occasional "heh" followed by spasms of pain, but after all that happened he simply couldn't stop.

When the three arrived at Aegis' base, Verahl and Raven opened the ramp and saw Paladin lying spread-eagle on the floor, laughing between coughing specks of blood. When he saw the ramp open, he staggered down the ramp, still chuckling, and walked toward the base, passing the others in the common room, "laughing" all the way, and hoping that Miles would have some decent pain killers.

 

[Chicago Ted]

Lux:

Lux nodded in agreement, as he prepared his drink. While he did feel some sympathy for Karnak, being hospitalized again so soon, and he did see Paladin's rather liberal use of Biotics to be a sign of weakness, he was more upset over the fact that it would mean that the company would still not be operating at its full potential.

When he finished preparing the drink, he shot it instantly back, letting out a deep breath as he felt the burn work its way down his throat. He licked inside of his lips for a moment before looking back at Korat.

"I wouldn't be too worried about Paladin," he said finally, breaking the silence that had fallen between the three of them. "While Verahl's going to put him back in his place, I doubt he'd go far enough to seriously hurt him. He knows well enough that anyone who's on a bed in the Med-Bay crippled is a liability to us as a whole."

Only seconds after he finished saying that, the three turned to see Paladin limping and laughing through the Common Room, and down to the opposite set of stairs.

After several seconds of silence, each of them trying to process what they just saw, Lux gave off a loud laugh as he looked at the two.

"Told you."

 

[Chicago Ted]

Verahl:

Verahl returned to his office, even more angry after seeing Paladin just laugh it off as he made his way out of the Gauntlet. He knew that if Paladin didn't realize the severity of what he had done, that eventually the two would be back in that lot.

He opened his Comms and contacted Miles, instructing him on what to do.

 

[Chicago Ted]

Doc Miles:

"Are you sure you want me to do that?" Miles said as the doors to med-bay opened. "No, no, I'll do it, but I mean isn't that a bit, well, unethical?"

He paused for a moment, listening to Verahl, as some of the colour seemed to drain from his face.

"Got it," he said as he shut the comms off and turned to face Paladin.

"Uh, hey buddy," he said cautiously, as he scanned his body up and down, noting all of the wounds he could see. "What you doing down here?"

 

[lemiel14n3]

"Got the shit beaten out of me" Paladin said, with a sarcastic look, that was slightly warped along with the rest of his face. "Then I thought of something ridiculous, started laughing, and it's helped me realize how much pain I'm in, I don't suppose you got any pain killers on you Doc?"

 

[Chicago Ted]

Doc Miles:

"Nope, fresh out, sorry," Miles said, as he took a few steps closer to Paladin, cutting him off so he couldn't go further into the room. "You can just walk it off though, right?"