"What would ol'Brooksy be without a sense of style, grace, and taste?"
"Heh, I dunno, a normal human being? Nah, anyway, it's good that some'a us think outside th' box."
Throughout his talking, Knox kept himself from flipping the lighter, mainly as it would be a distraction.
Verahl waited until Lux dragged Serina into his office, and sat her down in the chair in front of his desk. He nodded in gratitude to his Krogan lieutenant before turning back and looking down on the Asari seated before him.
"Are you sociopathic, menstruating, or just stupid?" Verahl asked with all the subtly of a sledgehammer. "You're clueless, unstable and arrogant. While I can tolerate the first two, the last one just turns you into a problem for this entire company."
Verahl slowly leaned over his table. His elbows rested on the desk, with his hands gripping each other, shortly ahead of his face.
"We had an Asari like you in this company a month ago," recited Verahl as his eyes grew narrower, concentrating their glare directly at the Asari seated before him. "Name was very close to yours even, Terina. Wasn't the only thing you shared. She was just as arrogant and as violent as you, but knew not to set her own personal problems on other members of the company. If you're keeping score, that leaves her far ahead of where you're at now. Then, when on a mission, she let her arrogance get the better of her when she approached a wounded enemy combatant. Before she even had a chance to react, she had been sent clear off of a balcony, and flying down onto the streets far below. We never found the body."
A sickening crack was heard as Verahl began to push down on each of his knuckles.
"All I see from you is a repeat of history. Another over confident Asari, who finds false bravado in the fact that she's older than most of those around her yet lacks the coordination and skill to let any of that age and experience amount to more than empty stories as you're sent spinning through the air helplessly to your inevitable death."
Verahl lowered his hands from in front of his face. His expression was one of disdain.
"So, if you intend to last any longer than that, I suggest you pay as much attention as you can to what I say next," hissed Verahl as he leaned in closer over his desk. "Before you are two options. The first is you put a cap on the melodramatic bullshit you have been spewing since you've walked through our doors. That means you take some time to calm the fuck down, you don't provoke or injure another member of this company in whatever catfight the two of you are having, and overall stop acting like I just hired some piece of shit Vorcha trash and let it stroll through our halls. You admit that since you've walked through my doors that you've proven yourself only as a liability, and show improvement from here on in. Your other option is that I throw you to Oleene to use. The club could always use another dancer."
"He'd probably be about as boring as me" Kyra said with a smirk, sighting on a target. "At least, Brooksy would be a little less shiny." She let half her breath out, centered the crosshairs on the vitals, and gently squeezed the trigger.
"Feels good to have a rifle in my hands again." She muttered, studying the target and making a minor adjustment to the sight. "Like an old friend, returned after many months..." Kyra started at the realization that she had spoken aloud, and hoped no one had heard.
"What would ol'Brooksy be without a sense of style, grace, and taste?"
"Thats assuming ol'Brooksy had those in the first place." David said, still chuckling. With a bemused shake of his head, he entered the range. Stepping to the firing line he took a few deep breaths to center himself then he popped in a thermal clip and started putting rounds down range.
"Omega's got enough dancers, Verahl,"Serina pursed her lips, remembering her last stint on the pole, "And I remember hearing a few rumors about you not liking being challenged on any level, but don't think for one fucking second that I'm about to back down from any gauntlet thrown at my feet."
She stood, glaring back at the Batarian with just as much fury as he sent back at her.
"On a job, you, and anyone on it, can count on my biotics, I don't leave enemies alive that aren't worth turning into allies, and I certainly don't waltz up to any fuckers that play dead, because they will be dead by the time I get that close.
She regained a small bit of composure, stopped glaring and sat back down, and calmly spoke again.
"And while you may see a repeat of history in me, I see a man so burdened by his own past and so caught up in his company that he neglects to see what I have seen happen countless times before over the last twenty years. Fighting amongst yourselves outside of missions may break bones, but it fosters much more camaraderie once you know exactly what you can expect from the person behind that barricade with you.
"David is everything I hate about the humans, smart-assed,arrogant enough that they make me a mere shadow in your eyes, and too pushy about every damn thing. Yet I know that I can trust him to do his job, because he held nothing back in that fight, and I have no problem with them as long as that happens. Not to say that fight didn't leave a lasting mark, but I accept it as it is, because I gained a co-worker from it.
"I am what I am, Verahl, and nothing is going to change that this late in my life, I know exactly how expendable I am, especially now that you've founded the Sigma's,but you feel you have to throw me to Oleene, fine, just know that at least one person will die here today, and I have no intention that it be me, if it comes to that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have weapons to calibrate and friends to forget."
I'm not trying to come across as a ***** in this, just trying to cover all the bases he threw out.
Verahl simply sat there, staring back at Serina. Her audaciousness was unexpected. But it was in no way going to be fostered. He shifted part of his gaze upwards and paused, before giving a slight wave of his hand above his desk.
It stopped the shot, but it didn't stop the butt of the shotgun being swung, cracking into the side of Serina's head, knocking her straight to the floor.
Lux followed his swing, kicking the chair away from him to keep his shotgun trained on the Asari, prepared to reflexively pull the trigger if he saw so much as a jerk of her arm, or a flash of blue. At this range, his Claymore would wind up painting every wall of Verahl's office in a coating of purple blood.
Placing a foot on her right wrist, Lux continued to glare down the sights of his shotgun and into the eyes of the Asari underneath him. If it wasn't for Verahl's subtle order, she'd already have been dead.
"Know this you little blue ****," Lux began as he continued to apply pressure with his foot, pinning her to the floor. "If either myself, or our COMMANDER, placed ANY value on your hollow threats, you would have been dead not even a second after uttering them."
He began to put more of his weight on her wrist as he spoke, though was careful as not to apply enough to break it under him. As he spoke, the doors to the hallway could be heard opening.
"And only under his orders are you still able to draw breath," bellowed Lux as he continued to hold his Asari down with both his foot and the threat of the shotgun. "If it was my choice, I would have pulled the trigger long ago, and be using you as an example of what insubordination gets you!"
"Lux," Verahl said, speaking his name very calmly as he passed by, interrupting him as to give a subtle reminder of his position as well as preventing him from falling into a possible rage. He was no longer sitting behind his desk, but rather circling around the two in the middle of his office, openly carrying what looked like a short barrelled shotgun.
"But. I'm. Not," Lux's voice trailed as he broke his stare for a second before returning it to the Asari. "So, you better be grateful of what mercy has been granted to you. His forgiveness paid for your life. You're now in debt to him for that."
Lux released his foot from her wrist as he took a step back from her. His Claymore was still kept aimed directly on her as moved though, as were the guns of both Raven and Dregger, each as eager and ready as him to riddle the Asari if it so much as looked like she'd attempt to take any action out on Verahl.
"Orders boss?" Raven asked, still training his Shredder on Serina.
"Give her some time to come to grips with what's just transpired," Verahl said as he stood by the side of his desk opposite Serina. He was the only one in the room who didn't have his gun following her every movement. "Karnak is already preparing a cell for her."
Serina was led to a cell in the holding area of the compound. It wasn't the smallest she had ever been in, not the largest either, but she had it to herself, from what she could see. A cot in the corner, a sink and toilet were it's furnishings.
Nice, the krogan could have waited a moment before he cracked me in the head, but he's quick, I'll give him that. Guess there's not much for me to do here, hell, there's not a lot I can do with these ribs period. Guess the rumors were wrong, Verahl apparently doesn't care if you yell back at him, it's the damn guys watching over him that get touchy about shit.
She sat down on the cot and pulled out her training sticks, and began juggling them with her biotics.
I don't really see what the fucking problem was, I was sitting in that damn chair, and wasn't even ready to make a move. Fine, I threatened the man, but hell, the guy's got a stick up his ass and I don't remember coming across anything about him being in the military, then again, not much came up about him at all. Owe him, do I? Live or dead this stays the same, I'm not about to apologize for what I said, I simply stated the facts as I see them, and until I see differently, those aren't staying.
She continued thinking to herself and practicing, unsure of how long she'd be in the cell, until Verahl felt it'd been long enough she supposed. No use talking through this vacation, so she simply juggled.
Just tell me if any of this steps on your toes, I just assumed she was escorted to the cell.
Verahl walked to the doors of his office, Dregger, Lux and Raven were in front of him. Dregger was holding Serina's wrists together behind her back with one hand, and holding his pistol near the back of her neck with the other. It wasn't pressed against her but was close enough that it still grazed against the back of her neck with each step, reminding her it was there.
The doors opened, and Dregger kept walking, pushing Serina along to the elevators. Lux and Raven both stood by the doors in front of Galus. Their weapons were drawn but not raised, each kept to their sides as they watched Serina being walked off. The knew that Dregger would be able to handle her should anything happen, but none would have put it past her to try a move or two in the elevator. Verahl had made a note to keep a couple pairs of Biotic dampeners in his office from now on.
"As long as you don't give your commander a death threat," Lux said as he let his fingers roll, tapping the side of his shotgun. "Then we throw you in the same hole as her."
With that, both Raven and Lux turned back into the office, beckoning Galus to follow. Raven went back to his chair by the bar, while Lux leaned back against the wall opposite Verahl's desk. Verahl was already sitting back down, with his chair facing the other way, looking down through the windows over the empty club below him.
"Don't bother sitting," Verahl said as he heard Galus approach the desk. He didn't bother to turn around to face the Turian. "Don't let it bother you; I just expect this one to be the shortest to get through."
"Brooks had told me you were the reason for David's second outburst, is that correct?" Verahl asked rhetorically. He didn't wait for Galus to respond, instead continuing his lecture before the Turian could even stutter a word. "Your profile says you worked C-Sec before, and as far as I could tell it checked out. And yes, we do perform background checks on every member of this company that signs on."
Verahl slowly rose from his chair, and stepped towards the windows. He still hadn't bothered to turn around to face Galus.
"I presume that there your Sergeants and the like didn't appreciate their officers that openly displayed their biases and prejudices. It runs the same here," Verahl said as he turned his head, glancing from one corner of the club to the other. "I don't care what views you hold as long as they remain your own. What I don't care for is some new recruit running his mouth with opinions that will only serve to divide and fracture. This company is fairly mixed, allows us to adapt easier to whatever comes up, but in order to keep that mixture intact, we need order and cooperation. If you damage that, there will be penalties."
With that, Verahl turned around to face Galus. He looked the Turian over once before, focusing his eyes with the Turian's.
"Now, prove to me that C-Sec instilled in you better discipline then an Academy drop out and an overzealous Asari grunt and you'll work out fine in this company," Verahl paused as he gave a slight nod to Galus. "Are these terms that you can abide by?"
Standing at attention on the opposite side of Verahl with the occasional glance at the bar and Krogan named Lux, Galus listen to what the Batarian had to say. Haveing him repeat what conspire with David and Brooks embarrased himself. His wife would've lecture him on species needing to work together if she knew what conspired. Galus would give anything to get lectured by her instead Verahl.
Are these terms that you can abide by?"
"Sir, if you'll allow it, I'll punch everyone of our adversaries in the jaw. No matter the color of their scales."
With that said, Galus raised his.arm in salute position and held it there.
Knox took out the old shotgun he was given what seems like forever ago, when he was first called up to help in the fights. He turned on the inferno ammuntion upgrade on the side of it with a grin, and took aim at one of the targets. He pulled the trigger, only for the gun to give an airy "pfft" noise, and blast him in the face with some steam.
"God damn thing...I don't know what the fuck's going on with it..." He gave a hefty sigh and pounded his fist on the side.
"Heh, guess I'm just bidin' my time 'till one of my paychecks can lemme afford a Wraith, Raider or, heh, a Spike Thrower're somethin'."
He laughed to himself at the last suggestion, but still fiddled with his gun until he knew it would fire again.
A small grin flashed across Verahl's face as he looked at the Turian.
"You better deliver a follow up as well," he said with a ring of satisfaction in his voice. "Don't give them the chance to recover."
With that he took his seat again, the slight smile still held on his face as he nodded in approval at Galus's response.
?Rejoin the others if you want now,? Verahl said as he beckoned to the door. ?Unfortunately, I don?t stock much for Turians in this bar, but if you go down below to the club?s bar there should be something. Rook?s been helping himself to something down there. He knows his way around the shelves better than most of the bartender?s Oleene hires.?
"Heh, guess I'm just bidin' my time 'till one of my paychecks can lemme afford a Wraith, Raider or, heh, a Spike Thrower're somethin'."
Brooks watched as Knox took his shots, giving a slight shake of his head as he watched a lingering burn remain on the target.
"Tarnak might be able to hook you up, if you're looking for anything manufactured by Batarians, he's got sources," he responded as he continued to stare at the target until the embers extinguished. "You know that stuff is pointless here right? It isn't going to help your aim or anything, only leave a couple scorch marks."
"Tarnak might be able to hook you up, if you're looking for anything manufactured by Batarians, he's got sources," he responded as he continued to stare at the target until the embers extinguished. "You know that stuff is pointless here right? It isn't going to help your aim or anything, only leave a couple scorch marks."
"Oh really? Next time I see him I'll ask." He then looked at the target too. "I know I don't really need to use 'em, I just like to...makes me feel more at ease, y'know?"
While he explained this, he fiddled with the safety on the gun, just for something to mess with while talking.
Sarius sighed as he reached for his coffee. Another day, another transport. He had been flying the same route for too many days. He had lost count after the second week. Every morning show up at the dock, with his transport empty, travel a few districts over, then unload his cargo there, before repeating the trip at least once more before the end of the day. The routine had become so boring for him, he almost felt as though he could do it in his sleep.
"Can't you just have this stuff unloaded at your own docks?" Sarius asked, breaking the silence in the front of the shuttle. The agent beside him had spent most of his time staring out the window, seeming just as bored as him. He figured he might as well try to make decent conversation with this one, even though they changed almost daily.
"You know the answer," the agent replied, not even bothering to change his blank gaze from the passing buildings. "Too many ships inbound from our docks. We had them all stop there, we'd have them backed up more than we already do."
Sarius sighed, he realized he wouldn't be able to get much out of this one. He never really did. Most neglected to bother to tell him what he was really transporting, and the ones that did were obviously lying to him when they answered. His favourite had been the agent who replied they were transporting farming equipment, because Omega was so famous for its farming output. Still, the credits were good and consistent, enough to at least ensure his silence if anyone asked.
Suddenly, a shudder was felt throughout the transport. The shuttle dropped a few feet downwards as it continued forwards, as a red light started to flash from the dashboard in front of him. Suddenly the agent was at full attention.
"The fuck was that?" the agent snapped as he quickly turned his gaze towards Sarius. His hands were already on the controls, struggling to keep the shuttle airborne.
"One of our stabilizers just kicked it!" Sarius cracked back. His eyes were glued to the dashboard in front of him, as he began cycling through options on the Omni-display in front of him.
"You can keep us up, right?" the agent replied, an obvious panic in his voice.
"The hell do you think I'm trying to do?" yelled Sarius as he attempted to compensate for the damaged stabilizer. The agent's response was not reassuring to him.
"Pilot, you had better---" the agent couldn't finish before the shuttle dropped a few more feet. Several displays suddenly flashed in front of their eyes. An alarm began to sound behind the two as the shuttle started to enter free-fall.
"Control's been lost!" Sarius cried as the shuttle began to spiral. The buildings in front of them began to blend together as the spinning became more and more violent. "I can't set her down!"
The agent beside him held the buckles of his seat with one hand as he reached for his white helmet that sat in the middle of the cockpit between the seats. He attempted to place it despite the disorientation from the whirling shuttle.
"Brace for impact!" wailed Sarius as the shuttle rammed into the street below.
Satisfied that her the zero on her rifles hadn't changed, Kyra packed up and headed back to the armory. Once there, she field stripped and cleaned them to ensure that they would operate flawlessly should she need them to. Finished, she put them back in the weapons locker, and headed back to the barracks to get cleaned up.
Saluting Verahl and nodding at Lux & Raven, Galus left the office and started the search for Rook. Making his way to the shooting range, he found Brooks and Knox. Figuring he'll run into Rook later, Galus grabbed a rifle and lined up some shots., hitting center mass most of the time.
"By any chance is there any VI training simulators near by? Made a game out of those back on C-sec."
Brooks:
"Oh really? Next time I see him I'll ask. I know I don't really need to use 'em, I just like to...makes me feel more at ease, y'know?"
Brooks let off a burst from his Shredder at the target, then lowered it slightly as he turned his head to face Knox.
"Sure, whatever you wanna blow your creds on," Brooks said, seeing Kyra stripping her rifle and heading off. "See ya."
Changing his focus back to the target, Brooks let off another few bursts before lowering his rifle again to check its sights. He heard the doors open but kept his focus on his Shredder.
"By any chance is there any VI training simulators nearby? Made a game out of those back on C-sec."
A loud, obnoxious laugh was heard from Brooks as he heard the question posed.
"Yeah, can definitely tell you're from the Citadel," condescended Brooks as he continued to fiddle with his rifle. "Target shooting not good enough for you? Not fancy, but it's cheap."
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