Cole had no idea how to respond at first, and when he began measuring to the asari all he could do was lean into her view and shrug apologetically. The meeting began after that, and Calypso had to suppress her snort as Reese began to explain their mission. He noticed somewhat peripherally that everyone was paying rapt attention--even Suni, for all her intense anger, was watching without saying a word. He had to imagine she'd have some feelings about this. Potentially going back to Rannoch had to be something monumental for her.<br/><br/>When the briefing finished, everyone remained silent at first, processing the mission parameters. Even to Cole, this was risky. He leaned against the table on both hands, frowning at the center holographic projector. "So are we assuming that the geth have the ability to turn a relay on, then off again? Or do we even know if Narcissus is still inactive?"<br/><br/>Suni shrugged. "Is or isn't, turning them off is no great feat." She glanced around as more than a few eyes looked her way, and snorted softly. "What? It isn't."<br/><br/>"Forgive us, kiddo, not all of us are technophiles," Calypso said, easing back into her cushy armchair. Suni nodded at that, and projected a display from her own omni-tool of a mass relay.<br/><br/>"Relays are pretty basic when you get right down to it--maybe not in execution, but design. Almost any modern ship can transmit the signals required to activate any primary or secondary relay, though primary ones do typically take a little more work. The coding used is not even that unique, though you would think they would be." She collapsed the display and looked toward Reese. "Commander, I suggest we leave a comm buoy on the Narcissus side of the relay to transmit shutdown codes back to it once we've gone through. Assuming there's a paired relay on the other side it won't impede us getting back but will at least cover our tracks if any darling geth come looking."<br/><br/>Cole wasn't so sure about that, but he wasn't exactly well-versed in how the relays worked. He resolved to ask Suni--or Pol, maybe--about it later. Wait, had she called them<i>darling</i>geth...?<br/><br/>Calypso stood and smacked her thighs as she straightened. "Alright, boss, if there's anything else we can brief Cole later--I'm gonna run him to the armory, get him set up to ship out." She grabbed the lieutenant's arm and steered him out of the room before he could argue it, frog-hopping him to the elevator where she punched the button for the cargo hold. As they got moving she finally let go of his arm and took out the cigar she'd been chomping at, sticking it into her teeth and lighting it from her omni-tool. "I'm gonna be direct, kid. I'm too old for the usual duck-and-weave bullshit the asari usually do."<br/><br/>She took a drag off the cigar and blew to the side, then pointed it at Cole. "You take good god damn care of Reese Amari. I don't know how it is between the two of you, but we all know why you two were late. You hurt her, even a little bit, and by the time they find the blast residue in your suit you'll be a fine paste blown across whatever shithole world we land on next. Alright?"<br/><br/>Cole sputtered a little, but held up his hands at the asari. "I... no. I wouldn't hurt her on purpose even if I wanted to. Commander Amari's an amazing woman, I have nothing but respect for her."<br/><br/>"Good! Good, I'm glad. Won't have to murder you after all, handsome." She smacked his ass and stepped out of the elevator as it came to a halt. "This way." She led him to a series of lockers, each one etched with a crewmate's name. Suni had clearly been there, as her pips decorated some of them. Cole's own name was covered with a display that just showed a flat, unattractive human ass. Calypso tugged it free and threw it aside, then opened the locker. "Alright, so. Matte black infiltrator-class armor, segmented to magnetically adhere to a more lightly armored bodysuit. Most infiltrators use energy shields, but you're a biotic, right?"<br/><br/>"Yeah. I liked to call myself a spirit more than an infiltrator, though."<br/><br/>"Spirit, infiltrator, whatever, call yourself a krogan if it gets you hard." She reached in to pull out a compacted rifle, which she handed over to Cole. It was the same black material as his armor was, and in its folded-down state looked a fair bit like a piece of round conduit. When it unfolded, though, it was long, almost as long as he was tall, and a cursory glance through the scope told him that the magnification was no joke either. "The commander got you drunk, I got you this. Prototype heavy-duty anti-materiel rifle. If we're going up against geth, nothing says 'fuck you' quite so much as a slug of ferrite going one-tenth the speed of light." She took a deep drag off her cigar and exhaled slowly, biting her lip as the last of the smoke left her mouth. "Just the idea of pulling the trigger gets me halfway there, LT."<br/><br/>"Ha! Shit, I can see why. This thing must weigh fourteen kilos, though."<br/><br/>"Eh, at least. You'll only want it for the big boys, like Colossi or Armatures. Don't worry, we've got smaller rifles for you too. Pretty much anything you need, I've got. We'll be phasing out the older shit too, as this new thermal clip tech becomes more mainstream. We've only got a handful of weapons compatible with them for now, but it's only a matter of time. Right, though--that's all I needed you for. Why don't you go keep the Commander warm while we get where we need to go, eh?" She winked, and Cole handed the rifle back before he turned to go. "Lieutenant?" she called as he neared the elevator.<br/><br/>"Yeah?"<br/><br/>"Remember. Fine paste."<br/><br/>"Yeah." He got onto the elevator rather quickly at that, and hit the button to take himself back to the CIC. Calypso scared him. Just a bit... but enough.