conversations: human
conversations:  The Achilles system may have only been discovered recently but due to it's location near the Traverse and current events, many factions have already began developping it. Hence the think-tank/colony on Achilles-3, affectionatly called Briseis by it's inhabitents while the offical naming paperwork goes through. Ordinarily it would take much longer, with additional surveys, bio-sphere tests etc.
  
  Not that it makes much difference considering who bulit the thing. The Sitra Foundation put a lot of funds into this interprise and has some of the galaxy's finest biologists, geneticists, bio-chemist and medical researchers here; including some Salarians with ties so strong to the Union Military that it's a common rumour that a Dalatrass ordered them here. Of course after Sitra's work countering that inter-species flu, they did have a lot more pull.
  
  Which may be why everyone was a little on edge before the news reports came in. Meanwhile you all were in what passes for a 'food-court'...
  
   @Elihilidas  
   Spoiler 
  You were mostly just enjoying being able to relax and have a proper sit-down meal. Unlike the rest of this system, there doesn't appear to be any red-flags for 'questionable' activites. You've checked that everything Sitra has done here has been Council approved, or at least lodged, damn beuracrats...
  
  Besides, you're just doing the intial report so someone will actually have a clue when they get to assigning a C-Sec detail here. In the meantime it's almost like you got paid vacation.
   
  
   @Lea'Foris  
   Spoiler 
  It's been a good day so far. That Dr. Nolap was quite excited about the data from the samples you've collected over the years and was intrigued by your offer. He even gave your team free lodgings while he worked out the details! It helps that Ya'Del managed to stop Kol from fiddling too much during the meeting. Kee'lah, that boy has got to stop twitching sometime.
  
  Anyway, while the boys went back to the shuttle to give Xir the good news you've decided to check out the food supply. So far it's far from disappointing. 12 kinds of dextro-cheese alone at 1 of the eateries! No ques (not much demand apparently) and it's relatively cheap too.
   
  
   @Horace  
   Spoiler 
  You just got on your Lunch Break. On your way over to the 'mess' you double-check everything as you went out. After all, what's the point of guarding the secure section, if you leave the doors unlocked when you're off duty?
  
  Reed was supposed to message you today, so you'll probberly check to see if his done it yet. Meantime, it's chow time!
   
conversations: FallenEco:
conversations: human
conversations:  " Hmm... I'm just not sure... "
  
  Lea'Foris stood with one hand on her hip, the other at her forehead. Or rather, where her forehead would be were it not for her suit.
  
  " I do like the look of that curry... "
  
  She was standing in front of one of the dextro food stalls, an increasingly impatient Turian chef opposite her.
  
  " But the pasta also looks really good... "
  
  So far, she'd been standing there for a good five minutes. The Turian let out an exasperated sigh. Lea showed no sign of hearing this, still trapped in her deliberations. The big problem was that she simply wasn't used to having a choice of food, resulting in paralysing indecision.
  
  " I think... I'll have the pasta. "
  
  A nod of her head affirmed this decision. Handing over the credits, she took her plate and headed over to one of the free tables. She hadn't been here long, but already the Sirta Foundation had made her feel welcome. Before she started eating, she gave the food a quick scan with her omni-tool to double check it was safe. She'd been caught out once, early on in her pilgrimage, it wasn't an experience she wanted to repeat. Content that the food was clean, she started to eat. The food was so much better than the nutrient paste the fleet gave out.
  
  " I should see about bringing some of this back for the others, " She mumbled to herself, happily oblivious to the world.
conversations: Comissar:
conversations: human
conversations:  Having just finished a meal, Ellie was leaning back in her chair and observing the mess hall. These Sirta people at least knew how to get good cooks on the operation. Some scientists seemed like they forgot to eat half the time, and it surprised her their brains still worked. The news was displayed in screens placed throughout the mess hall, but Ellie was only half paying attention. She was more interested in the assortment of people from around the galaxy gathered here. On Palaven there were mostly just Turians, but here the diversity was enough that they had specialized food stands. It reminded her of back on the Citadel, and for a while as she relaxed it felt like home. She was getting paid for this too. Sweet.
  
  Eventually, Ellie stood up and wandered over to one of the dextro-food stands to get some dessert. There wasn't any hurry, all her reports for the moment were already filed. She wondered where the rest of the Cabal ran off to. If this place had an athletic center, Jamal was almost guaranteed to be there. Who knew where the others where. Walking back to her table and sitting down, she got to finishing off the dessert so she could go look for them.
conversations: RandomWombat:
conversations: human
conversations:  Locked...locked... signed out... said 'hi' to that cute new secretary, Sandy...and now it's time for food, glorious, real grown food... man I love my job... just for the food alone.   Thought Horace as he greedily bit into a ripe, crunchy apple.
  
  " MMMM-mmm !" he moaned a little too loudly.
  
    Hmm I wonder if that busy-brains Reed has mailed me yet... said it was something important...  . He switched on his omni tool which flushed green and blue...The welcome screen appeared and after checking his timetable -security duty, security duty, security reports etc- proceeded to his messaging programs.
conversations: Rising Phoenix:
conversations: human
conversations:  Lea finished off her meal and, after returning her plate to the stands, checked her omni-tool. She still had a while before the others were expecting her back, though she wasn't sure what she'd do with her time. She was looking across the food court when something caught her eye. Almost everyone in the court was wearing the Sirta emblem on their clothes, signifying that they worked here, but one Turian had no such markings on her clothing.
  
  Curious, she walked over to the table the Turian was sat at. " Um, hi, my name's Lea'Foris vas Aktannay, do you mind if I take a seat? "
  
  She hovered uncertainly at the table as she continued, " I was just curious, you know, what brings you here? I mean, I saw you're not with Sirta and it just got me wondering... "
  
    Keelah...   She thought to herself,   I need to get better at talking to strangers...  
conversations: Comissar:
conversations: human
conversations:  "Hm?"  Ellie looked up when the Quarian approached,  "Yeah, no problem. Name's Elihilidas, but Ellie works just as well. Nice to meet ya."  She casually examined the Quarian, who looked a bit nervous.
  
   "Ah, just the usual business. Checking up, making sure the bureaucracy doesn't move at a snail's pace. New discoveries always have a bunch of lame paperwork,"  the Turian adjusted her seating position to better address Lea'Foris.
  
   "What about you? You with the eggheads, or does the fleet have you on i-dotting and t-crossing duty too?"  laughing, Ellie asked as a little add-on at the end,  "And I'm not that intimidating, am I? Is it the armor? It's always the armor." 
conversations: RandomWombat:
conversations: human
conversations:  " Oh! No, no, it's not your armour! I'm just not very good at talking to people I don't know, I'm better with machines than people. "
  
  After standing awkwardly for another moment or two, Lea sat down in one of the free chairs at Ellie's table.
  
  " Well, I can see how the paperwork could be dull, but I bet the new developments are interesting to see. " She shifted in her seat a bit, still looking uncomfortable, before continuing, " As for me... I'm in talks with Dr. Nolap, hopefully to sort some stuff out for the fleet. I'm... Afraid I can't say any more than that at the moment, confidentiality and all. "
conversations: Comissar:
conversations: human
conversations:  "Haha, about the opposite with me. Unless it can fly or shoot things, I'm generally not the techie. Typical Turian, huh?"  joked Ellie, twirling the utensil from the dessert she'd ordered. She had a little more while Lea eventually sat down. Once the Quarian was finished with her explanation, Ellie set it down and continued,  "Dealing with the bureaucrats isn't totally dull, yeah. Makes up for it that I get to check this place out before anyone else. This part of your pilgrimage?" She paused, then corrected herself, "No, I guess that wouldn't really be confidential would it? Official stuff then. So, on a related note, what do you think of these Sirta guys? Their stuff checks out, but I can't help getting that  feeling , you know?" 
conversations: RandomWombat:
conversations: human
conversations:  " No, I completed my pilgrimage a few years ago now, hence 'vas Aktannay', it means 'Of the Aktannay'. If I were still on my pilgrimage I would be 'nar Dorlan', or 'Child of the Dorlan'. " Lea's tone suddenly became apologetic, " Oh, but I'm probably boring you with that. I can't imagine a stranger would want to just talk about my culture. "
  
  She paused for a moment before continuing, now sounding more curious, " I can't say I've noticed anything unusual, the people here have been very helpful and friendly to my team. What makes you uneasy about them? "
conversations: Comissar:
conversations: human
conversations:  "Not at all, I never really knew anything about the Quarians aside the pilgrimage being... existent,"  Ellie shrugged.
  
   "It's not that I'm uneasy either, exactly. The people around here seem okay. It's just, big corporations almost always seem to have an agenda, you know? I find it difficult to believe these guys are squeaky clean, because so far as I can tell, they  are ." 
conversations: RandomWombat:
conversations: human
conversations:  ...and of course, that's when the alarms went off. All of the alarms actually. The smoke alarm sirens were wailling just as asuredly as the pirate-raid warning came out over the intercom. The security alarm was certainly the loudest though, and was the only one that wasn't disabled after a minute or two.
  
  Horace received an emergency ping on his omni-tool, requesting him to grab the C-Sec operative in the 'food court' (as he is the closest) and bring her immeditately to Conferance Bay 3. Ignoring protocall if need be.
  
  Likewise, anyone who gets access to a news-feed on their omni-tool, gets a  ping.  
   
   Spoiler 
  
  It was on every feed. Citadel Network News, Alliance News Network and even the Batarian Hegemony's own Department of Information Control broadcasting directly to the public on an unsecured frequency.
  The tales may have been from all different places, but the story was the same.
  
    "Reports are coming in just now-" 
   "-trillions killed" 
   "-came from out of nowhe-" 
   "-lost contact wi-" 
   "-eing invad- 
   "-Earth devas-" 
   "-Thessia-" 
   "-Feros-" 
   "-Palaven-" 
   "-Khar'shan destro-"  
  
  The galaxy was dying, under attack from things. Death, destruction, mutliation, invasion, occupation, tragedy, devastion, loss, nightmare...
   
conversations: FallenEco:
conversations: human
conversations:  The sudden alarms made Lea jump in her seat. Her first thought was   hull breach?   before remembering that she wasn't on board a ship. She glanced around before noticing that her omni-tool was trying to get her attention.
  
  Switching over to the news feeds, she finally understood why the alarms were sounding. " Keelah... What's happening? "
conversations: Comissar:
conversations: human
conversations:  Ellie immediately overturned the table to face the main entrance to the food court and pulled Lea behind it for cover, expecting some sort of attack. The place was in a panic, other people rushing to try and figure out what was going on. When no attack came, Ellie tried speaking to Lea over the security alarm,  "This area is too open. If we're under a security threat, we should find somewhere more defensible. The kitchens, maybe?"  Her omni-tool lacking a news feed, she was unaware what the Quarian was so stunned about, and was unable to see the look of horror no doubt on her face through the face mask.
conversations: RandomWombat:
conversations: human
conversations:  Startled at Ellie's suggestion that they were under attack as well, Lea reached for her shotgun while also trying to cycle through the news on her omni-tool.
  
  " What about the fleet? " She muttered to herself urgently, " Keelah, is the fleet safe? "
conversations: Comissar: