<div class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeQuote" data-author="Sirnoobsalot">
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<div class="attribution type">Sirnoobsalot said:
				
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<blockquote class="quoteContainer"><div class="quote">Beruut took the seat as it was offered. He listened to Milenya, nodding. <span style="color: YellowGreen">Unsurprising.</span> He responded. <span style="color: YellowGreen">He has made a name for himself among certain circles within the Terminus systems. In my time on board this ship, I have witnessed his strategic mind at work in no fewer than fifteen engagements. Thirteen of which ended nearly as they began - a single, decisive blow to cripple the enemy's vessel.</span> He said, motioning with his hands in accentuation. <span style="color: YellowGreen">Among trade lines, this ship is known as The Phantom. Not many know it's face, but there are plenty on Omega that don't like the name Armand Cantenelli.</span> He looked around the room, peering at the vessel.<br/>
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<span style="color: YellowGreen">And yes, you likely should recall any combat or paramedic training you have. Violence seems an inescapable element of this ship's trade. Injuries are common, and I suspect more are soon to come. My skills are not insignificant, but as with many injuries sustained in combat, half of the treatment is getting the wounded back to the ship alive.</span><br/>
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Beruut paused, craning his head slightly to the side. <span style="color: YellowGreen">Tell me- what exactly did the Captain tell you about what it is this ship does, and what its on its way to do?</span></div><div class="quoteExpand quoteCut">Click to expand...</div></blockquote>
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</div><span style="color: #6495ED">"Armand Cantenelli? I can't say I've heard of him, or The Phantom. I mean that in both the figurative and literal senses."</span>Milenya shifted, settling more comfortably on the bunk.<br/><br/>She waves a hand vaguely in the direction of various parts of the ship as she talks.<span style="color: #6495ED">"Being inside here, looking around, the ship is obviously built for stealth. The capacitors and heat discharge/retention systems, the active and passive EM baffling, even the sound dampening, all point to that. And the equipment; whomever built this ship poured a lot of credits into it. I'm guessing that either there's a very ticked off Turian government or Turian defense company after this ship, or that it's being operated sub-rosa. Either way, the need for secrecy is obvious."</span><br/><br/><span style="color: #6495ED">"What the captain told me, however, was just that it was an independent ship with mercenaries comprising a good part of the crew, and the reason he hired me on was because of a prothean artifact of some kind, as yet unidentified. Judging from the risks he's taking, whatever it is must be very valuable, rare even for prothean tech. If it's in fully functional order, it could be literally priceless. Something that could make an academic career. Or something that's a wild, how is it said, goose chase?"</span><br/><br/><span style="color: #6495ED">"Either way, it is far better than remaining on Omega, or signing up with Eclipse or Blue Suns. I learned quite a while ago... there was a phase where I thought I might be a fighter pilot, or a commando, or a Huntress. Or even a Justicar, until I actually looked up the Justicar code. I took some basic asari military courses, learned to shoot some, learned basic fire team tactics, and then got bored with it. A little too much rigidity, though I did manage to stay with it for a year or so."</span>She shrugs dismissively.<span style="color: #6495ED">"In between pursuing my degree, of course. Archeological Applied Science, the foundation of our technology, drew my attention far more than running around muddy fields with training rounds flying every which way. Though even that basic knowledge and training came in handy a couple of times, on digs."</span><br/><br/>Milenya glances at Beruut again.<span style="color: #6495ED">"The archeology professors hated us, by the way. They looked on us as being only marginally better than tech-pirates and grave-robbers. Something about, how did she put it... 'What you do when you dig stuff out of the ground is completely repulsive. It's careless and reprehensible to ignore the context in which a device was found, just because you want to take it apart and see how it works.' I don't care about context, or history, or constructing some fiction about how a long dead Prothean might have used it and what place it held in their society. What I care about is 'how can I make this work?, what principles does it operate on, and what can we learn from it?' Because, ultimately, the story of the Protheans is over, and the only mystery is how their civilization got wiped out."</span><br/><br/>She coughs, catching herself on the edge of a rant.<span style="color: #6495ED">"My apologies, I got a little sidetracked. It was after I got my doctorate that I picked up the xeno-paramedic training and shuttle pilot certifications. I've kept my certifications and marksmanship qualifications current; Vessira made sure of that, Goddess bless her. She kept me busy, between the business meetings, social events, and working vacation trips."</span><div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>