Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan & Andro)
<h1 id="title">Elliquiy Role Playing Forums</h1>
		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Bondage, D/s, S&amp;M =&gt; Bondage: Exotic Solos =&gt; Topic started by: Andronica on 07-05-2016, 01:24:00</h2>
		<dl id="posts">
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Andronica</strong> on <strong>07-05-2016, 01:24:00</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div align="center">(http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k437/cheshiresmirk/rounded_corners_zps48324a1f.png)<br><br><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="bbc_size"><span style="font-family: georgia;" class="bbc_font">Mass Effect: Terminus Cast</span></span></strong><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><br><strong>Wayne Essex [X] (http://41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdeynuhjTu1rdy3s5o1_1280.jpg)</strong><br>Disillusioned Cerberus agent turned mercenary Captain.<br><br><strong>Dezthia Essex [X] (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/79/87/7f/79877fe6f15c790043e9ddf2fe7d91b6.jpg)</strong><br>Cerberus experiment and bodyguard to the late Aria T'Loak. Wayne's little sister.<br><br><strong>ERIS [X] (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/e6/e6/2a/e6e62a36900044ffc5e2bfd555c9e424.jpg)</strong><br>Illegal AI from a scraped Cerberus program who learns 'human' traits.<br><br><strong>Arissa D'lari, "Wraith" [X] (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/3c/c4/fb/3cc4fbdfdf1eb1754620b0d6f7e46479.jpg)</strong><br>Information broker and Wayne's on again/off again lover.</td><td><br><strong>Dr. Livia Trezel [X] (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a8/2f/dd/a82fddfbf87469310afffdfe6ce1d87f.jpg)</strong><br>Freelance researcher and medic on board Wayne's ship.<br><br><strong>Athea Vos [X] (http://pre02.deviantart.net/0cad/th/pre/f/2014/202/8/2/asari_by_kate_niemczyk-d7km9jr.jpg)</strong><br>Junior Justicar. One of Vara's many daughters.<br><br><strong>Raze [X] (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f7/d8/24/f7d824eeeda9ae32a004515d4f8bee78.jpg)</strong><br>A surprisingly suave, pent up Krogan of Clan Urdnot.</td><td><br><strong>Sarek Rael [X] (http://orig03.deviantart.net/ee7b/f/2015/080/0/b/mass_effect_occitania___ekram_armor_by_the_joeblack-d8mmuw6.jpg)</strong><br>Aria's traitorous right hand man fighting the Essex siblings for control of Omega.<br><br><strong>Vara Vos [X] (http://www.nexusmods.com/Images/208/3183487-1397537542.jpg)</strong><br>Dubbed the "800 year old sex goddess". Patron to various organizations, legal or otherwise.<br><br><strong>Nel'Taan Vas Vandal [X] (http://pre10.deviantart.net/dbbf/th/pre/i/2013/025/6/9/mass_effect____new_savior_of_the_galaxy_by_candider-d5sn4fa.jpg)</strong><br>Ex-Captain of his own ship. Demolitionist and tech-expert on Wayne's crew.</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Andronica</strong> on <strong>09-05-2016, 22:09:07</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Since she defected from Cerberus and abandoned by her family, she found no better place to go than Omega. Aria T'Loak, the Queen of all things criminal, immediately caught wind of the run-down brunette and took her under her wing. Finally she was more than just an experiment to study. She learned more about what she wanted - and more importantly, Dez learned how to <em>take </em> what she wanted, when she wanted it, courtesy of her strange new 'family'. The vanguard quickly found herself at home in the sprawling lawless old space station and for years she lived there with purpose. Relatively happily, too. She even made her way to Aria's left side and never strayed from the spot. <br><br>They were useful to each other like a symbiotic relationship. Dez protected Aria and carried out her commands, occasionally giving her advice if she asked. In turn, the ex-Cerberus experiment had a wealth of knowledge and contacts at her fingertips which she used to keep tabs on certain interesting people.<br><br>But then everything changed. It happened so quickly, so unexpectedly that Dez was surprised she made it out in one piece. Mostly.<br><br>That day she stood in the rotunda overlooking Aria's club Afterlife, unwavering at the asari's side as she kept all her loyal eyes and ears on every table where they could pick up useful information. She kept her gaze free to flit from various screens and monitored rooms, issuing judgements to be carried out discreetly or negotiating with loud mouthed mercs who often got a taste of Dez's sleek elbow before they left, tail tucked between their legs. The flow of Afterlife's musical pulse and visceral imagery made up Dezthia's lifeblood and became such an enjoyable constant that it was no wonder she didn't expect the hit until it was too late.<br><br>The usual commotion of Afterlife consisted of the various patrons, especially the ones who cursed at the door when the floating manatee of a bouncer refused to let them pass, the dancers and their lewd patrons, the bar tenders tossing drinks around with showmanship, and the rival gang members who are grumbled from different parts of the club at one another. It was also so contentedly normal that almost no one registered the first shot. It started in the bullpen below with a Blue Sun's member taking a shot to the head and collapsing with a hard 'thunk' on the floor as his black blood seeped onto the fluorescent illuminated dance floor. That caused a riot in and of itself that turned everyone's attention to the ground level.<br><br>Afterlife was used to seeing those kinds of fatal gang fights, and Aria's men were quick to shut that shit down. This time, however, while customers were screaming and swearing, a supposedly stray bullet cracked against the window of Aria's private room above. Then another shot was fired from inside. Dez had only enough time to make eye contact with Aria as she dove towards her. The second shot grazed Dez's ear and cheek as it came from behind her and hit Aria squarely in the chest, hitting her spine, with enough force to burst into the back of her chair and beyond. <br><br>Adrenaline made her hearing falter as the sound of her blood pumping quelled all other noises, even Aria's raspy breath. From her periphery Dez could barely make out who it was, and by then she realized why the fighting below hadn't been stopped. Aria's mercs were standing with Sarek instead.<br><br>The last thing she saw was his ridiculous little smirk before the fucker had her quite literally tossed out of Aria's lounge onto the dance floor below. Probably so he could have some uninterrupted <em>fun</em> with his ex-boss while she was still somewhat conscious.<br><br>The screaming became more palpable in her ears as everyone rushed to the door and Dez rolled onto her stomach with a bloody chortle. Her choppy chestnut hair obscured her vision briefly as dark earthy green eyes tried to focus on the stomping figures ahead of her. The vanguard clutched her side where she must have easily bruised a rib, if not broke it outright. Her teeth ground audibly in her skull behind her rosy lips. Not rosy because she had pouty just-bitten kind of lips, but because the fall split those luscious lips and flooded her mouth with the metallic taste of failure.<br><br>A shot splintered the ground right in front of her hand as she crawled forward and stood up. Another shot broke the light behind her left foot. They weren't hitting her but they were coming really damn close. Warning shots. He wanted her to survive.<br><br>Taking the opportunity, Dez launched herself into the crowd of armoured and scantily clad bodies alike,which she blended in to immediately. Bodies thrashed together as Afterlife emptied its contents faster than Aria bled out. Dezthia didn't really remember how she made it out of there, only that she had, and she hated herself for it.<br><br>But what she started to regret even more was the urgent message she tapped out on her omni tool. A request to her estranged brother, Wayne. He was the only one she could trust now, which was stretching her trust quite a lot, since she doubted any of her contacts from her time with Aria would either be reliable or alive if Sarek had his way.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Odanrav</strong> on <strong>17-05-2016, 22:19:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Omega, what a wonderful shithole it was. Every depravity and desire could be fulfilled, but none of it came without strings. After every visit there, Wayne always felt the need for a thorough cleansing. Unfortunately, they hadn't yet put something on the market that could cleanse memories, particularly the bad ones. <br><br>The mercenary sat there, in a private booth with his favorite dancer facing away from him and gyrating her hips an inch above his crotch in only a thong. At this point the sight of it didn't even get him hard anymore; honestly he just enjoyed the company. This girl, who wasn't particularly a fan of speaking to her clients (he didn't even know her real name), was hardly anything to him, and yet that made her something. Ever since he left Cerberus, ever since he left the Suns, ever since he left his sister... Wayne had done everything in his power to ensure he didn't get close to anyone. The epitome of the freelancer who worked along, got jobs done alone, and didn't give a shit who was giving him the credits or who was getting fucked over in the deal. <br><br>"You've been teasing me a long time Blue, when you ever gonna let me get a more thorough experience..." Wayne muttered as his hands slid up to caress against the bumpy light blue skin of her thighs, moving up and up until they rested at her hips. This seemed to be a common occurrence, even though touching Aria's dancers/strippers was against the rules, as "Blue" only smiled in return and slowly grabbed Wayne's greedy fingers and pulled them away. She stood up straight, the length of her legs and curvature of her back and ass on wondrous display as she took a step away from the man. <br><br>"But if I do that, the mystery is gone. You won't have anything to come back for," the Asari sultrily said as she stepped forward to grab her overcoat, putting extra emphasis upon the sway of her hips as she did so and slipping the silky sheath on an arm at a time. <br><br>"I'll always have a reason to come back and see you Blue," Wayne smiled. He knew shit wouldn't ever come from his forwardness, he knew she had always been playing him. But he didn't care, because he needed something in life, even if it was a lie. <br><br>Suddenly then, he glanced down to a see a notification flashing on his omni-tool, a message. From his sister. <em>The hell...</em> he thought to himself in stunned disbelief. <em>Fuck... it's been three years?</em> his thoughts continued trying to remember the last time he spoke to his sister. Wayne couldn't remember what it was about, but he knew it didn't end cordially. Shots may have been fired. <br><br>"Something wrong, babe?" The dancer asked, noticing Wayne's sudden change in expression. <br><br>"Nothing," he muttered in return, with the obvious hint that something was absolutely out of place. Without ceremony, Wayne gathered his things, adjusted his pants to ensure no unsightly bulging was evident, and left the booth. Outside things were chaos in the heart of the Afterlife Club. Screaming, running, everything had gone utterly to shit. Finally he looked down to read the message...<br><br><em>Come pick me up on Omega, now. In deep shit. NOW!</em> It read as she shook his head and looked around. He hadn't seen his sister since he was back on Omega and did everything he could generally to avoid being around Aria's people, but she had to have been close. And then he saw her short black hair bouncing through the crowd, rushing for an exit and he bolted after her. <br><br>After finally escaping the chaos of Afterlife, Wayne followed her down back alleyways, watching from a distance. An immediate feeling of concern overcame him, a sudden worry that this was some sort of set up or worse, that he would dissapoint her. He'd certainly let himself go to some extent since the last time she saw him, his lifestyle hadn't been kind to him after all. Swallowing hard he finally stepped forward and burst in front of her as she rounded a corner to her surprise. <br><br>"Dez, it's me." He muttered as he grabbed her arms and then lost all track of thought as he looked upon his younger sister, dumbfounded. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Andronica</strong> on <strong>19-05-2016, 20:04:05</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Dez didn't have a whole lot of time to process what the fuck just happened. She sent her brother a quick urgent message - which probably didn't make a whole lot of sense thanks to her trembling hands and erratic movements - and then she practically launched towards a nearby alley way. The hordes of people who once danced and argued in Afterlife funnelled out for the most part and dispersed in the large courtyard-like space between the notorious club and the docks, where several patrons were running to their ships. No doubt news had already spread that the resident Queen Bitch of Omega was dead and there was going to be a lot of head butting to fill her throne.<br><br>This was a shit show that topped her escape from the underground Cerberus lab shortly after she overheard her brother left, too. Shaken up and nearly out of her mind, the vanguard sighed heavily through her nose in an attempt to calm her erratic racing heartbeat. With her back to the mouth of the alley and blood pumping as the only sound permeating her ears, it was difficult for Dezthia to notice her brother. She had no idea he was so close even before everything fucked up - in fact, she was already thinking of a plan to stay holed up in some remote part of the decrepit station until her brother could pick her up. <br><br>However, that wouldn't be necessary.<br><br>Before she could seek a little refuge, Wayne burst around the corner and took her arms. "What the--" Dez was surprised too suddenly to be able to go for her gun, let alone push her larger brother off of her. Adrenaline and shock had set in and were fading away, making her limbs hot and too heavy to really put some distance between them. <br><br>"Wayne?" she said, even after spoke her name - he was the <em>only one</em> who used her nickname - as if she couldn't believe it was him. This close, right now. It was impossible in her mind.<br><br>"Where have you been? How did you get here so fast?" she asked. A torrent of questions were ready to spill out of her mouth along with a couple of insults, too. Yet she was tired and afraid. And glad to see her brother even if she never would admit that to him out loud. "Fuck it, just get me to your ship and let's leave this mess behind..."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Odanrav</strong> on <strong>25-05-2016, 20:50:19</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"I've been... around." Wayne muttered in response. It was easier than parlaying to her many months and years worth of mercenary work that saw him visit just about every corner of the galaxy, from council space even onto the reclaimed Quarian homeworld of Rannoch. <br><br>"I happened to be close by, <em>very</em> close by it seems. In the club," he continued as he began to turn and walk, one hand still loosely held her forearm, like when he was a teenager and had to show her the way to school back on the colony. She must've been no older than seven at that time, after their parents died. <br><br>"What mess?" He asked her, still confused about what trouble she had gotten in this time? <br><br>"Does Aria know you're leaving? I know you've been real chummy chummy with her last couple years. 'Aria's Biotic Bitch', that's what they say at least," Wayne shrugged as he turned a corner, taking another hallway and doing all he could to avoid the more crowded sections of the stations. They were somewhere in the slums, but he was having some trouble figuring out the exact location, he'd admittedly never went into these Vorcha, drug, and poverty ridden depths of the station. <br><br>He looked up to see a nearby wall moniter, it's screen cracked with graffiti painted over portions of it, that was displaying a picture of Dez's face on it. Beneath was a hefty bounty price. Wayne stopped to look back at his sister. <br><br>"I think you're gonna need a disquise or every fucker on this station is gonna be taking shots at us the moment they see you walk into the docks." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Andronica</strong> on <strong>27-05-2016, 01:57:40</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"You've been around?" Dez repeated, her expression and tone making it quite clear that she wasn't satisfied with her estranged brother's answer. She didn't keep tabs on him often but she made sure the trail wasn't completely cold thanks to Aria's discreet contacts, but even they could only provide a vague idea of where he was and what he was doing. Eventually she stopped inquiring as Aria's business (and her subsequent list of contacts and 'friends') exponentially grew. Dezthia had other things to keep her attention focused on that didn't consist of a brother who she followed to her own ruination and abandonment.<br><br>She sighed through her nose and waved her hand, dismissing his vague excuse and the fact that he had been in the club. Her features hardened and she looked him right in the eyes as they had no time to dance around the current situation for the sake of playing awkward catch-up.<br><br>"You were there, so you must have seen what went down, or at least heard it!" She was starting to speak mere frantically. "I didn't do anything <em>this time</em>. There's this asshole from Aria's crew, her other hand like me, but the fucker just put a bullet in her and killed the resident Queen of Omega. There was this part where he chucked me out of a window onto the dance floor but... you get the gist of it. Long story short: everything is upside down and I need to leave now." Little did Dez notice that the monitor behind her was already flashing her face and a hefty bounty, which about a hundred trained hired guns would now be out looking for to get onto Sarek's good side if he let them know who was the new boss.<br><br>At Wayne's hint, Dez quirked her brow and turned around to follow his gaze to the monitor. She sighed. "Let's just make a break for the docks before someone walks past and notices me, okay?" Already the vanguard was following her brothers instruction and pulled out her visor, which she fastened around her head into place. The lens dimmed enough to hide half of her face and Dez hoped a short mop of brunette hair wouldn't be enough to make someone's trigger finger itchy. She motioned for him to follow as she left the alley.<br><br>"Do you have anyone on your ship who can pilot it half decently? I know a back route through the slums we can take to an abandoned dock. Aria used to use it for trades and meetings so it's normally sealed up, but I have the access codes."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Odanrav</strong> on <strong>27-05-2016, 21:17:15</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"I was in Afterlife, but in a private booth, so I didn't see shit Dez," Wayne said back to her as she noticed the moniter behind and was soon after walking. Wayne suddenly could remember why his little sister was such a handful, if anyone in the galaxy embodied pure sass completely, it was her. <br><br>"That doesn't make sense," he muttered as he followed closely behind, keeping pace and pulling up his omni-tool all at the same time. "Why wouldn't he just kill you when he had you with your guard down, like Aria? Even if for some reason he thought you wouldn't defend your boss, you'd still be his direct rival afterwards." Wayne finished as he had his ship's controls up and ready. In truth, he knew far more about Dez's life in the last few years than she may have known about his own. At least he knew her position in Aria's crew and a lot of the individuals that she worked with, Sarek especially. Having never met the Drell, his reputation still proceeded him as a ruthlessly effective killer and utterly heartless. Not the most ideal person in the Terminus to have coming after you. She never said the name directly, but if Wayne had to guess he assumed that's who she was speaking about. <br><br>"A few men, but I only trust myself with the take-off codes," the mercenary said as he raised his arm up, already having accessed the ship and started her up remotely. He quickly sent a brief message to the on board XO to track his position to this "abandoned dock" Dez was speaking of. <br><br>"And what happens if we run into your former colleagues there?" Wayne said as he shut his omni-tool down, checked the pistol on his hip and then fastened his yellow painted helmet onto his head, the visor coming down in rivulets to complete a look that had become synonymous with the former Cerberus agent. Dez didn't really have to answer, because he knew her solutions were usually of the gunfire and biotic aggression sort, but he'd take her lead on this one while still on <em>her</em> turf at least. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Andronica</strong> on <strong>31-05-2016, 20:14:14</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Dezthia sighed deeply in annoyance as her brother chose that of all times to question what was going on. She was there, she saw it! And with the sharp smarting in her jaw that made her think she may have cracked a tooth in the fall, she definitely had the marks to back up her claim. Trying to ignore the throbbing pain that started to well up in her head, the mercenary grunted out her response. <br><br>"Honestly, Wayne? He probably wants to frame me which is why my damn face is all up on display!" she pointed out with no hint of amusement in her voice. She had a good thing going before Sarek decided to revolt, dammit. Though Dez was internally kicking herself for riding out that prosperous wave. She should have reminded herself: nothing good ever lasts for long. With another grunt, this time more in pain that annoyance at her estranged yet somewhat helpful brother, the ex-bodyguard quickly pointed toward a set of doors that were far off in the distance. The vast courtyard between the docks and Afterlife were full of people so she was sure they could sneak past - as long as no one looked at her face head on.<br><br>"If we go down that corridor through the apartments, we can take the short cut to an abandoned dock. I'll send you the coordinates now," Dez said as she brought up her omni tool and hastily stamped in a few lines that went directly to her brother's console. "Aria kept that place a ghost town. She liked go there for special deliveries." And <em>other</em> things, like executing traitors and making deals with her enemies. Dez knew of one person who never ever agreed to meet with Aria in person on Omega or anywhere but her own private turf. Vara was the only exception on that short list of pseudo allies that Aria had and right now she could probably stand to call in a favour if she got out alive...<br><br>Without further adieu, the vanguard grabbed her brother's forearm for a moment as she wove them through the panicking and gossiping crowd to reach the doors she spoke of. Once they got there she let go. He would know to follow her lead. Inside the next room was a vast corridor and several other winding halls and rooms, but Dez merely made a bee-line through it all. Past the minimalistic, shady apartments. Down deeper through Vorcha infested slums. Then to an area that obviously was gang territory as it was kept in decent shape but also rather quiet.<br><br>Eventually there was another long hall that remained unguarded. A couple of mercs who were leaning near the console - no doubt Blue Suns who had a side contract with Aria to keep the place under the radar - immediately got up. <br><br>"Hey, Dezthia, where's the Queen Bitch?" one of the men called with a chuckle as she got closer. They knew her face and her reputation. She always accompanied Aria. This time though, she was with a stranger and Dez was very sure news travelled fast into the lower levels. Something was up but whether it was suspicion about the unfamiliar face or suspicion because the Blue Suns were secretly on Sarek's side (which she wouldn't put past those greedy fuckers) was up in the air. The merc's hand reached for his pistol but Dez shot forward in the blur of a biotic aura. Her hand practically covered the man's helmet-less face and slammed it into the wall with an audible crunch as he crumpled to the floor, unconscious. He might never wake up.<br><br>Fortunately after a quick stern glance, his buddy got wise and backed away. <br><br>"Get down on your knees and toss your gun over here," Dez ordered. The merc did as he was asked, more afraid for his miserable hide than his dignity. Dez opened the door with a snap-hiss and kicked the gun inside before her. Keeping her eyes trained on the kneeling merc, she waited for her brother to pass and closed the door behind them. Inside, just like she promised, was a plain and empty docking station with just one way in and out.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Odanrav</strong> on <strong>01-06-2016, 06:48:05</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The moment the siblings were coming close to the privately abandoned docks, Wayne readied his weapon, holding it loosely in his hands and letting it hang down at his side leisurely. All manner of proper military technique had been beaten out of him by the rather regular engagements he'd found himself in as a mercenary in the Terminus Systems. And by regular, that usually meant at least one firefight a week. His weapons had become extensions of himself, so wrapped up within his own identity that he could scarcely think of them as simply possessions or tools. They were his life, because he had nothing else in it. <br><br>Dez was too quick to take actions before she plunged forward, knocking the living hell out of one Blue Sun and scaring the shit out of the other. He'd forgotten how fast her charges were. He'd seen veteran Asari commandos that couldn't charge up enough biotic force to make that charge in such a short amount of time. A blink of the eye really, as fast as he could land a quick jab to an unsuspecting jaw. A few beats passed and Wayne was holding his gun up, ready to fire, but quickly looked the fool as the other merc simply cowered down. Wayne looked at Dez, shrugged his shoulders, and then wrapped the merc in the back of the head with the butt of his pistol, knocking him unconscious. <br><br>"Guards? I'm guessing someone will be calling in soon to check in," Wayne muttered, his voice coming out of his helmet with an odd flange that made it sound deeper, more otherworldly. Surely an intimidating factor for his various quarries he had in his line of work, yet he suspected it may not have had the same effect on Dez. He followed, feeling quite useless, as the door shut behind as he was greeted to a docking stations. One singular airlocking tube jutting out into space, a hauntingly empty (even of chairs) waiting area, and a series of windows looking out upon the cosmos. <br><br>A few minutes had passed with no sign of a ship coming and both brother and sister were visibly becoming antsy. <br><br>"I don't know what the hell the Doc is doing, I mean she's no ace but Trezel knows how to follow coordinates..." he said as he looked over to his sister, speaking of his "XO," the on board medic Dr. Trezel. Wayne surely liked the woman and she was good at her job, but as far as he knew she'd never been trained to serve on a military vessel. And she truly might not have been qualified to fulfill the role of second in command, but when having to deal with the degenerates and scum he had to deal with (due to budgetary reasons), a man had to take what he could get and make it work. Trezel's ability to put two coherent thoughts together made her the most fitting for the job. <br><br>At long last the Vandal EVR (http://orig15.deviantart.net/85bc/f/2012/235/c/5/t5_evr_wakizashi_by_karanak-d5c4em6.jpg) came within sight, just as the station's sirens began to sound and the pair of them could hear movement coming from the other side of the doors. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Andronica</strong> on <strong>01-06-2016, 21:35:35</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"The Doc?" Dezthia repeated with some skepticism. "The pilot of your mercenary crew is a doctor?" she asked again with a slightly screwed up expression. A tinge of genuine concern blanching her face. It wasn't that Dez thought a doctor couldn't be capable of multiple jobs on a ship but she knew how much Wayne loved his beautiful, complicated craft. Maneuvering such a large and lovely ship around Omega was going to be kind of hard when one wanted to stay under the radar. Especially when they were in danger of being killed on Omega and time was of the essence. Not having a dedicated pilot on hand made Dez... uneasy.<br><br>Just as she was about to espouse some kind of complaint, as her brow furrowed to indicate Wayne would shortly receive an earful, a ragged sound crackled from her brother's omni tool.<br><br>"Dammit, Jace, stop fussing!" said a poignant female voice. It was smooth like velvet and lightly accented with an origin Dezthia couldn't quite place. The single hatch of the lonesome empty docking bay shuddered to life as a ship behind it prompted entry. The doors slid open and in came the Vandal EVR along with a huge commotion as alarms sounded throughout the hangar and beyond. More voices on the omni tool which, due to the empty nature of the large room, were loud enough for the vanguard to hear as if the woman was beside her having a conversation. For the most part, she was coherent despite the scream of the pulsing alarm and faint shouts that Dez could hear in the back ground.<br><br>"Sorry for the delay, Wayne. Jace saw your message first and thought he was going to take point," she explained, speaking of her over eager assistant who by now Wayne knew to be excitable and knowledgeable in equal parts. <br><br>"Quickly, get on. I'm detecting a lot of heat in the next room!" the doctor transmitted as the Vandal slowed and lowered to make contact with the docking point. Dez scoffed at the obvious remark although for someone like her, it was hard to remember that not everyone could detect things like that without technology. Wayne's little sister had implants upon implants coursing through her <em>mostly</em> human body, after all.<br><br>The engines didn't shut down as Trezel expected them to scramble inside the moment the side hatch on the Vandal opened, and Dez ran for it without so much as a word to her brother. The doorway she and Wayne had come through a minute ago also opened and at least a dozen Blue Suns were funneled inside with guns drawn as they dove for cover or tried to take pot shots.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Odanrav</strong> on <strong>02-06-2016, 22:51:33</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"She's not the pilot, she's just the only one I trust with it when I'm not on board," Wayne contested his sister's skeptic talk. It was true, however, that Wayne had not small amount of trouble allowing others to pilot his "darling" ship. The merc loved the Vandal, more than most people... well, more than everyone save for Dez most likely. It was reliable, useful, and low maintenance. Attributes he couldn't apply to most people. So, naturally, his heart almost stopped with Trezel pulled the vessel into the docking tube, a maneuver which required precision and patience. Difficult enough to do in a calm state, but with sirens going off and shouts from nearby, it could become quite the ordeal. <br><br>The Doc was able to get in a good lock, thankfully. <br><br>"Fuckin' kid," Wayne muttered at the mention of Jace. Smart kid, useful kid, but kids do dumb shit by their nature. They were liabilities on merc vessels, but Trezel insisted when she was hired. <br><br>Before Wayne could go into a tirade shots were already landing overhead, at his feet, even one lucky hit to his kinetic shield which absorbed the shot easily. He followed Dez inside as the hatch hissed closed behind. <br><br><em>"Initiating decontamination, please wait."</em> The on board computer in a monotone feminine voice proclaimed as the stepped inside and a clear white gas began to fill the cylindrical chamber. Wayne could hear shots blasting the door and was growing impatient. <br><br>"Override!" he commanded to the onboard as he entered in a private code onto the terminal display to the entrance of the ship. <br><br><em>"Contaminants detected, please wait for decontamination process to complete."</em> The computer responded. <br><br>At long last the entrance way opened and Wayne rushed inside, immediately taking a hard left and headed for the cockpit. <br><br>"What's going o---" Jace began before Wayne shouldered his way by, almost knocking him over. And then he pushed his way onto the helm, replacing the doctor as the pilot. In quick succession he detached from the port tube and used the side thrusters to propel away from the station. The ship's onboard detected that a number of turrets on the station were powering up and attempting to lock on to the Vandal. Luckily the element-zero core had been pre-charged and ready to fire. Within seconds the ship was flung into faster-than-light speeds, jumping to the edges of the star system, safely away from the station. <br><br>Wayne released a heavy sigh after regaining his equilibrium. Sudden jumps like that always got his head out of whack. He turned around to see Dez nearby. <br><br>"You're welcome, Sister." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Andronica</strong> on <strong>07-06-2016, 21:24:25</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Inside the foyer of the Vandal, the square entry was quickly sealed off and a white gas filtered in through the vents. Dezthia immediately looked less than thrilled as she shot her brother a side ways glance, glaring in irritation even though it wasn't exactly his fault. The Vandal's system refused to take off until the decontamination process was complete - at least that was what she presumed, given Wayne's incessant screams for an override. <br><br>"Seriously?!" Dez exclaimed in frustration after the second attempt to bypass the computer was ignored. When the door finally opened and the decontaminated siblings were able to lurch into the Vandal, the vanguard got a good look a the reason they almost became riddled with holes from Blue Sun weapons. A lanky young man with well defined features and cropped black hair was standing in the hall outside the cockpit. He looked surprised but Wayne shot him down with a rough handling to get past to his doctor. Dez followed briskly and found the caramel skinned woman busily tapping away at the console and preparing to manoeuvre the ship out of the hidden docking bay.<br><br>"Don't push my assistant," she told Wayne flatly without even looking at him. She seemed to have a no-nonsense attitude combined with a bit of haughtiness to offset that in a peculiar type of dry humour. Long chestnut hair flowed down her grey and black body suit like a curtain, and her eyes, when she did finally jerk her gaze up at Wayne to see that he wanted to take her place, were a lovely amber brown. Seeing the other Essex sibling at the door of the cockpit being ogled by Jace from afar prompted her to stand up. Or maybe it was the blood on her swollen lip.<br><br>"Yeah, thanks brother. For the life time of trust issues..." she murmured the second half under her breath and rolled her eyes. Wayne's holier than thou attitude was grating even after years of being apart.<br><br>Without so much as a greeting, Dez felt Dr. Trezel's fingers on her jaw as she pulled her head down to face her. The shorter doctor was unashamed in her probing as she touched Dez's jaw and cheek. "You're lucky none of your teeth broke, and your jaw is fine. I see you have your brothers hard head," the good doctor proclaimed with a small smirk at her joke.<br><br>Dez tried to gently pull away from Dr. Trezel and stood behind her brother's chair in the cockpit with her hands firmly planted there. "Do you have a plan?" she asked.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Odanrav</strong> on <strong>09-06-2016, 03:10:36</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Harder," Wayne proclaimed after the doctor's joke. The merc leaned back in his chair and tried to relax a moment until Dez pressed him for a plan. Wayne was never much of a planner, something that always kept him in trouble back in his Alliance and Cerberus days. He was a man that relied on his instinct, instincts that were usually right. Usually. He sighed lightly. <br><br>"A plan?" Wayne asked back, turning his head to the side slightly. Though he couldn't look directly at his sister from the angle, he made the gesture to ensure she knew who he was talking to. Wayne knew his sister often made a habit of construing his every word in the worst possible light. Not that he could blame her. He'd hardly been reliable throughout her life. <br><br>"The plan was to get shit faced and laid as much as possible on Omega until the credits ran dry," the man chuckled, attempting to deflect as best he could before his light laughter quickly faded. <br><br>"I'm guessing that promise to take me to the club is out of the cards now, then?" Jace asked Wayne. <br><br>"Shut up, Jace." Wayne answered him, standing up from the pilot's seat and taking off his helmet. He sighed again and looked at Dez with a serious and stern face. <br><br>"I'm guessing these people you're in shit with aren't just going to let you go... and something tells me you don't plan on letting this lie," Wayne said and walked past his sister, expecting her to follow. They walked into the comm center and navigation portion of the main deck. The merc stopped to look up at the opaque galactic map slowly spinning at the center. <br><br>"And if that's the case, that means we're going to need a few friends to fight them. I have a contact who might can lead us in the right direction, but we aren't exactly a rich outfit here. Without credits we're not going to attract any freelancers worth a damn." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Andronica</strong> on <strong>14-06-2016, 16:19:11</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Dez groaned inwardly and ran her hands through her short hair, ruffling it up a bit before letting it fall back naturally into place. It was clear she was frustrated from the way she pinched her nose and exhaled deeply from gritted teeth as Wayne explained what his meagre plan was. Or what it had been until she threw a kink in the whole operation.<br><br>"That was a terrible plan, by the way. And Sarek killed Aria and chucked me out the fucking window so no, I'm not going to let this go quiet!" she replied, half snarling in anger. Dr. Trezel cleared her throat a bit awkwardly and looked between the siblings. Clearly she wasn't used to seeing any back talk Wayne like that or get angry that quickly. However, she didn't know anything about Dez yet other than that she was Wayne's sister, so she reserved judgement and merely tried to keep the cockpit from boiling over with awkward tension.<br><br>"Jace, let's go to the mess hall. Captain has business to discuss. I'll show you how to play cards while they squabble about a plan," said Livia. She jut her chin towards the open door which Jace unhappily trudged through with his mentor at his back, prodding him forcefully to ensure he continued and didn't try to eavesdrop. Once it was just Wayne and his sister alone in the cockpit, Dez sighed deeply as she followed him to the map.<br><br>"You may not have the funds but I do. Aria set me up really well and I made sure to keep that a secret. Now that she's gone I've lost almost all of my contacts though... except one. It's a hit or miss situation with her but I think she'll be able to give you the funding you need to add to your crew. Pretty slim pickings out here for you, I take it?" Dez added in reference to Dr. Trezel and her assistant making up the only notable parts of his crew that she'd seen.<br><br>"Just trust me on this. Set a course here," Dezthia suggested, tapping her fingers on the map to create a path to a nondescript station off of Thessia. "Drop me off here and go meet with your contact. We can reconvene in a day or two with more money and help than you've probably ever seen since leaving Cerberus. Sound good?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Odanrav</strong> on <strong>14-06-2016, 23:18:45</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Wayne looked to the side, gazing into his sister's eyes a moment in silent thought at her proposal. He honestly couldn't think of a better solution than to trust his sister on her word. He certainly didn't have the means of gathering up a shit-ton of credits on short notice (without going into even greater debt with some unsavory people). Wayne had always known his sister to be all fire and no nuance, so he found himself concerned by the thought of her working as some sort of intermediary or negotiator. Hopefully those ties she talked about were strong ones, indeed. <br><br>"All right, Dez." Wayne muttered as he input the coordinates on the galaxy map and then input the command code. "While your doing that I'll get in touch with my guy and see if I can't get a lead on anyone promising," he said as he turned to walk away to man the helm. <br><br>"I'll be in the cock if you need me," he called back, leaving Dezthia to her whims while the Vandal made the FTL trip back to the Hourglass Nebula Mass Relay, and then a quick hop to the Asari Homeworlds systems. <br><br>Once out of earshot of his sister, Wayne got on his omni-tool and established a secure line to his informant. He typed in a simple message and sent. <br><br><em>Wraith, we need to meet. The usual place.</em><br><br><hr><br><em>Vos Station, a small, well furnished way station orbiting Thessia</em><br><br>Since the Reaper War many individuals had profited off the vast amounts of reconstruction that had to be done due to the tremendous amount of destruction. Vara Vos, the Ardat-Kresh famed for an illustrious three hundred year run with Fornax, the most well known purveyors of the perverted in the galaxy, and for a short time the Asari Councilor representative on the rebuilt Citadel Council, was the owner and operator of <em>Vos Station</em>. A glorified shipping port that had been used for years to bring in raw materials from across Asari space to aid in rebuilding Thessia and the megacity that spread across the planet's face. Now it was something of a luxury resort, since most of the major work had been dealt with, that housed only the most wealthy, only the most prominent members of the galaxy, other species included. Vara was more than just a powerful Asari, she was a galactic wide icon for beauty, opulence, and influence. A far cry from being the wet dream of every young Asari in the galaxy. <br><br>What many didn't know of, however, was some of the lesser known business dealings Vara was active in. Namely her ties to the Terminus systems. After all, someone had to back all the reconstruction that went down in that region of the galaxy with no established governments or leaders. She had ties to many of the more prominent colonies and even Aria, the Queen Bitch, T'loak herself. Aria, along with the others, were good business after all, so why not? <br><br>As Dez exited the docking port and stepped onto the station, she was presented with a spacious reception lounge filled to the brim with tourists and business-persons from all parts of the galaxy. Among the crowd though, the figure of an armed Krogan stood out from the rest. And then said Krogan began to approach, stopping in front of Dezthia and blocking her way. <br><br>"Dezthia Essex, Ms. Vos has been expecting you," the Krogan muttered with a wry grin forming at the ends of his large mouth. <br><br>"But I'm afraid that in order to see her, you're going to have to give up that gun on your pretty little hip," the hulking figure said with a light chuckle added in. For whatever reason it became obvious that the Krogan wasn't being strictly professional with this greeting, based off where his eyes were roaming. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Andronica</strong> on <strong>15-06-2016, 16:19:48</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Dez didn't want to tempt fate by talking to her brother any more about her contact, let alone his. The siblings always erred on the side of caution in every situation they walked in to whether or not it was planned; though their tactics and paranoia (at least for Dez) went well beyond the expectation for their line of work. A little something she picked up quickly from their Cerberus days when anyone might betray you. Even your own family.<br><br>"All right then, it's settled. I can guarantee I'll bring something back after meeting with my contact and hopefully you can too," said Dez with a nod of her chin as Wayne went to deal with his own business. She hadn't seen Vara in a long time but she hoped that 800 year old sex goddess - as she was known to some of her clients - still remembered her in a good way.<br><br>With the distance Wayne put between himself and his sister, not even Dez's keen senses would be able to pick up on the faint sound from his omni-tool as Wraith replied:<br><br><em>See you there.</em><br><br>Concise, as usual.<hr><br>The beautiful parlour of Vos Station was unlike anything Dezthia had ever seen elsewhere. Aria opted for a more minimalistic and efficient look in Afterlife and the personal rooms she owned around the club. Vara Vos on the other hand was a woman of showmanship and grace. Deadly, beautiful grace. Her word backing whatever someone supported would make or break them. Inside the station Dez was greeted with a whole host of influential and wealthy patrons who founded and thrived in businesses all through the Galaxy, either there in the hopes of getting Vara's favour or another means to an end.<br><br>With her eye on the prize, Dez started to walk towards the crowd. A Krogan guard came out to approach her and pointedly blocked her path. A precaution she could understand, although she could have done without the dose of mockery. At his chuckle she jerked her head up at him and glared with narrowed green eyes, swirling with the faint hue of violet from the experiments those Cerberus bastards had done. She didn't need a gun to hurt people and so she happily gave it up.<br><br>"Here. Don't scuff if or I'll return the favour to your face," she told him briskly as she held the gun up, wagging it at the hilt until he took it. "Now are you going to take me to her or talk about my pretty little hips some more?" Dez retorted calmly. Truly she didn't want to make a mess of the Krogan in Vara's parlour - not that the decadent mogul couldn't afford a thousand others just like it.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Odanrav</strong> on <strong>21-06-2016, 22:28:44</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<em>Derelict Paradise, a secluded, underground bar located on a large asteroid orbiting a star in the Felorn system of the Hourglass Nebula. The bar was a well known place among pirates and mercenaries as a small, but welcoming hideaway for leisure time and refueling. As well as for private dealings ill suited to larger settlement or space stations. </em><br><br>Wayne walked into the bar wearing his full suit of yellow and black armor alongside the carnifex at his hip and sat at the front, making himself very pronounced among the crowd and sure to draw attention. It was a dimly lit and quiet little place, easy to hear the person nearby over the low beating of an entrancing thrumming Neotones song. He sat there and looked up at the attractive Quarian attendee behind the bar. <br><br>"What'll you have handsome?" she asked, in a manner as if it were something she was required to say to all men that walked in. <br><br>"A Talrisia 42," Wayne responded as the Quarian nodded and got him the Asari drink. If he were forced to describe it, he would have said it was something similar to vodka, but not quite. The taste after gulping down the shot only made him long for the taste of home. He laid the empty clear plastic vial down, wondering why everything that held drinks in space had to be in a long cylindrical shape. <br><br>"Another, this time chase it with some Pascha..." he muttered as the Quarian gave him a longer look. Those were the key words, chase and Pascha. She gave him the drink and beneath slipped a note scrawled quickly onto a napkin. <em>Suite 31</em> it read simply. Wayne downed his drink, tipped the barkeep, and ripped up the note before heading into the back of the underground bunker where the personal lodgings were held for those seeking to spend more than a night docked on the asteroid. <br><br>He approached the first room of the third sub-level and pressed the communicator on the door. <br><br>"Sweet Azure," he muttered into the comm and a few seconds later the door hissed open. He went inside and the door quickly shut behind. <br><br>"I wonder Wraith, do you go through all this trouble to meet with all your clients, or just lucky old me?" He asked as he turned the corner into the room proper to find the Asari information broker known as Wraith waiting for him. He smiled at her, still finding her utterly stunning after many months apart. <br><br><hr><br>"Hehehe... sounds fun..." the Krogan chuckled after her threat. The look he gave Dezthia was almost a dare... but also oddly sexual. <br><br>"I'd love to talk about all your pretty little soft parts, but Ms. Voss is waiting, and she ain't as patient as I am." The Krogan informed her as he began to turn around and lead her towards an elevator. Vara's personal suite covered an entire floor of the station, rising like a mighty pillar into the vast black vacuum of space. It was luxurious to say the least, fitted with a spacious, panoramic view all around, a number of private bedrooms for quests and herself, a fully furnished kitchen, exercise room, entertainment room, and social area. As the bodyguard and former bodyguard entered into the suite they were welcomed to the sight of Vara seated on a long plush couch with another human woman under her arm as they were curled up close to each other and watching the news on the vid screen. Vara wore a beautiful gray dress that frilled out at the waist (likely to make her abnormality less obvious and more socially acceptable) and her her legs crossed while the human woman clung to her tightly. Her legs were swung over Vara's long blue limbs and her head was laying upon the soft natural pillows of Vara's bosom. <br><br>"Ms. Essex is here to see you ma'am." The Krogan said as the two of them stood behind the couch on which the two women sat. Slowly Vara turned her head, revealing the gorgeous face she possessed that had made her no small part of her vast fortune. <br><br>"I see," she said with a half smile. Her hand patted the human girl's bare thighs, the woman wearing only underwear at that point, as she urged her to get off. Lackadaisically she did so, falling backwards into the couch and laying there. She retrieved a artificial cigarette like object from a nearby stand and brought it to her mouth and took a deep breath. A form of hallex designed to be smoked that immediately sent the young woman into a daze as her eyes glazed over in some form of bliss or another. Vara, meanwhile, straightened herself out and stood, making sure her dress looked proper, before rounding the couch and standing in front of Dezthia. <br><br>"Thank you Raze, that will be all," Vara said as she kept her eyes sternly locked on Dezthia. She could remember her face from the last time Aria came to visit her, even though that'd been years ago by then. The human woman had grown more rigid than before, yet somehow also more attractive. Vara looked into her eyes closely as Raze left the suite without a word. <br><br>"I hope Raze wasn't too forthcoming, he can be a deviant creature after all. But he is good at his job as head of my security division. I'm not so sure I can same for you, however," Vara said as she turned to the side and walked into an adjacent room, expecting Dezthia to follow. <br><br>"Aria... was a sweet friend, a woman I greatly admired and respected. She accomplished many things in her life, placing herself at the top of a food chain that is often unobtainable for people like us," Vara muttered as she gave Dezthia another glance and sat down in a chair next to a small, false fireplace. She waved her hand to offer the other chair to her side to Dezthia. <br><br>"Now she is dead, and many blame you for it. The bounty on your head coming out of Omega is quite staggering," Vara said solemnly looking into the digital image of the fire crackling and convulsing on the charred black wood. <br><br>"Tell me, why shouldn't I turn you in? Why shouldn't I avenge my friend against the one claimed to be her killer?" 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Andronica</strong> on <strong>28-06-2016, 19:07:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Wraith had a lot of contacts, and despite all her wealth and how many people were clamouring for her services or to get on her good side, she still preferred to work out of a backwater bar. Sometimes she took to using a different establishment but the Derelict Paradise was her favourite. It was where she first met Wayne, any way. It was large and well kept with a sprawling common area where dancing and drinks never ceased, although the crowd was significantly more rough around the edges than those svelte criminals of Aria's crew in Afterlife. The added bonus was a myriad of suites attached to the bar where the real business could be conducted and Wraith always stayed in the largest, grandest room of them all - as far as underground bunkers could get on an asteroid that is.<br><br>The door of Suite 31 unlocked with a soft hiss as Wayne uttered the passcode. Inside the room Wayne would find a main area with a mostly bare table and some long semi-circular couches, while the adjacent room housed a bed as most people who came through the Derelict Paradise intended on staying a while.<br><br>All Wayne could see at first would be the back of her fringe and dark full body suit, which boasted white seams on her shoulders, upper thighs and down her chest. She turned quickly to face him as he spoke, revealing her powder blue skin and dark blue-purple lips already widening into a grin to reveal bright straight teeth. She flashed a grin only momentarily though before turning around the rest of the way to approach her business partner and occasional lover. The natural purple markings in the middle of her lower lip and down her chin, which also surrounded her pale violet eyes, gave her a beautiful yet slightly menacing appearance as if she was constantly scrutinising Wayne.<br><br>"I go through the trouble for you because you tend to make it worth it. Though I see there's been quite a shit storm over on Omega that's implicating your sister. Is that why you wanted to meet? And here I thought it was because you missed me," Wraith replied, tilting her head as her tone became a little more exaggerated by the end.<hr><br>"Ugh, you're such a pervert," Dezthia responded as she shook her head at Raze. The imposing krogan seemed to only take delight in this revelation as she followed him over toward the central chamber where Vara was waiting for her. Normally Dez wasn't nervous about going to see the aptly named 800 year old sex goddess. Today, though? She was quickly starting to feel like her heart was going to fly out of her chest because she couldn't get a handle on her anxiety. She tried to keep it all down but the lingering glances from some of Vara's patrons as she passed them made her wonder each and every time: do they know? Do they suspect?<br><br>Inside Vara's personal suite was a whole different world of opulence which always astounded the vanguard whenever she went into it. Every other time it had been with Aria as a buffer but now she was alone, and suddenly Vara's grace seemed a little more menacing as she dismissed Raze. Dez hurriedly followed after Vara as she jabbed at the latest void in her life, causing the brunette to look up suddenly with surprise at the insult. Vara was definitely taking this hard - and so was she.<br><br>"I served Aria faithfully for years, Vara. She lifted me out of nothingness and gave me a spot beside her and I became someone. Not just some <em>thing</em>," she corrected her in an irritated tone. A quick exhale came through her nose as she calmed herself down as she took the seat opposite Vara. "I could never do that to Aria, you know that. She was my friend to," added Dez as she leaned back in the chair. <em>More than a friend, even.</em><br><br>"It was Sarek," the former bodyguard said without any pretence, in a tone dripping with nothing short of hate. "He's always wanted her position and I kept telling Aria not to trust him, but she did. He threw me out of the fucking window in Aria's suite before I could blow the smug look off of his face," Dezthia explained. She brought her gloved hand up to the right side of her jaw and cheek where an expanse of purple bruising had set in rather quickly. "Obviously he left me alive to take the fall, otherwise he would have killed me there too without a second thought. He's trying to pit you against me. Anyone who was an ally of Aria would be coming for me and leave the door wide open to let Sarek sit in her throne!" she said in an exasperated manner, gesturing over toward Vara to recall her bristling demeanour from the moment Dez walked in.<br><br>"Please, Vara, you have to trust me. I want to avenge Aria but I can't do it alone. I need help. More people, more funds. Sarek is trying to get everyone into his pocket first."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Odanrav</strong> on <strong>29-06-2016, 06:59:37</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"My sister's sudden reinsertion into my life had something to do with it, yeah," Wayne muttered with a chuckle as he stepped forward towards a long shelf running along the wall as he laid his helmet and sidearm down there, intending to be rid of the remainder of his armor piece by piece until he could feel comfortable at last. <br><br>"More of a convenient excuse really though to get you to come," he continued, his boots snapping free first followed by arms and then waist. Until such a point came that he was down to a two-piece grayish-brown jumpsuit with no identifying traits or insignias to speak of, fitted tightly across his wide chest and generally broad stature. Not the tallest man to ever live, just barely matching the height of his own sister, Wayne made up for it in sheer bulkiness. His frame gave off the impression of a great deal of compacted strength and tension, like a tightly coiled up steel spring. Though certainly not an old man yet, he had the look of one. Partly due to the strips of white that could be found scattered across his hair both atop his head and along his square jaw. Moreso, however, the ragged and tired expression that was plastered across his face constantly gave off a certain weariness that could only be gained after years, many years, of troubles and tribulations. Still, the man was able to put a wry smile on his face in the presence of Wraith. <br><br>By that point he had stopped being surprised by how much she knew about him. Wayne's only hope was that she knew equally as much about anyone in the Terminus with even a sliver of importance to their name and he wasn't special in such regard that she would know almost every intimate detail. It was both flattering and frightening to imagine Wraith could know every last dirty detail, down to his most recent pornographic search on his omni-tool for "hot Asari fucking." He only lamented the fact that he knew so little of her in comparison, not even her real name. <br><br>"I'll just get to it,"Wayne said as he walked closely to her, attempting to avert his eyes to other parts of the room as much as possible to keep from reminding himself how god damn beautiful he thought she was. Like the most perfect creature a god could have possibly devised to ensnares his heart and lusts and not let go. <br><br>"The people who caused that shit storm on Omega are gonna to be coming after her, sooner or later. Which means I'm going to need more firepower. I need guns-for-hire, biotics, techs. Good ones, the elite with no close ties to Omega or other merc outfits, and not some random shit-stain from a backwater planet who couldn't even make it with the Suns. I'm looking to build a squad that can handle whatever they throw at us. Which means I need names, places, information, all that, from you. And the quicker the better," Wayne explained after a heavy sigh, his arms crossing over his chest, the forearms themselves larger than the legs of some men. <br><br>"Problem is... I don't exactly have a way to pay you for all that info right now. That's something my sister should be working on, but between you and me I ain't banking on it. My sister... she doesn't have the most deft hand when it come to diplomacy and business." <br><br>"So I'm gonna have to ask you to trust me."<br><br><hr> <br><br>"No," Vara said languidly as she sat back in her chair and exhaled, her legs crossing again into a very proper sitting position as she kept staring at the image before her. Her eyes told the story of someone reaching far back into a memory bank that stretched far enough that some of the memories felt more like dreams than reality. Eight hundred years of existence does that to a person, Vara supposed. And many of those older memories involved a much younger Aria, and a much younger Vara. <br><br>"Aria knew her game, her lifestyle, and she knew it better than anyone I've ever known. Her downfall wasn't trusting too easily. In that line of work you can't even trust your own mother completely. What killed her, was overconfidence. She became too secure in her power, in her... invincibility. The sheer amount of audacity it would take to back stab Aria T-fucking-Loak after all... it's almost unfathomable." Vara shook her head and smacked her lips together. <br><br>"That sort of overconfidence will kill you every time," she finished as she stood up suddenly, straightening her dress and pacing forward a few steps before turning around to face Dezthia. <br><br>"I know you didn't kill her, girl, that much is obvious. You worshiped her. I could see it on your face the last time she was here, I can see on your face now," Vara said as she kept coming forward until she loomed over Dezthia. Her lithe ocean blue fingers drifted to Dez's chin, gently turning her face up to stare directly into her big, truthful eyes. And then her fingers slipped away just as quickly. <br><br>"But I get the impression you also want to emulate her. And that gives me pause. How can I trust I'd be making a good investment in someone who possesses that same cockiness that got my dear friend killed?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Andronica</strong> on <strong>04-07-2016, 17:58:49</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"An excuse?" she repeated with a chuckle. "Well aren't you brother of the year," replied the asari in a sultry, teasing tone as she took stock of him. He looked a bit weathered for his age and she always wondered if it was due to the highly demanding lifestyle he had working for Cerberus, or if it was because of something they did to him more directly during his training. Either way, she loved to run her fingers through that streaked hair and bite that matching stubble lined jaw.<br><br>Wraith crossed her arms over her chest as she heard Wayne approach and chuckled at his response. In a relaxed manner she exhaled through her nose and smirked at him as she leaned back against the table. Her shapely ass bumped the ledge without a sound while she maintained a comfortable position. The mercenary was probably more than used to seeing her looking very pleased with herself and always at ease, as if she had dirt on everyone everywhere. In truth that would be impossible even for such a talented asari like Wraith but she sure as hell was good at staying one step ahead of people. Considering who she worked for it was her most useful asset.<br><br>Wayne, she came to quickly realize after their first meeting, was like an open book around her which made her job even easier. He tried to hide it with bravado. He tried to stay grizzled and hard. Though she could make him melt in her hands and he wasn't half bad at returning the favour.<br><br>As he came over and got to the point of the meeting, revealing that he did care about his sister (or at least keeping his ass off the line), it caused Wraith's smirk to widen ever so slightly. She nodded her head when he finished speaking and her usual velvety matter-of-fact tone poured out past those plush dark purple lips. "I don't associate with backwater shit-stains, and you really should be careful about barking orders at me," she reminded him with a level expression. Now that he came up to her they were practically the same height, with Wayne towering over her by a measly couple of inches at most. Whatever some might think he lacked in imposing height he more than made up for with an impressive build.<br><br>She let the tension of her suddenly business-like demeanor hang in the air between them as she seemed to consider his request of trust. Trust wasn't reliable or a valuable form of currency. Trust wasn't something Wraith could count on, and she would let the gravity of his favour bore into him for another long moment.<br><br>"You'll have a list of contacts and all their information by tomorrow morning," she said at last, clarifying that she would take him up on his offer. She pushed off the table to stand in front of Wayne and let her arms drop from their crossed position over her chest. "Now as for payment... I'll need an advance."<hr><br>For the eternity that it took Vara to respond to her, Dezthia had been doing everything she could think of to stop from writhing around in that chair. Living in the heated gaze of that baffling, beautiful goddess' was almost too much for her to take and she tried to stay distracted. She thought of how much she hated Sarek or how much she missed Aria. She had a stoic expression that spoke well of her training at Cerberus yet while she wasn't cracking on the surface she was having a fit on the inside. A muscle in her jaw twitched as she instinctively tried to ground her teeth but felt a jolt of pain from her fall out the window in Afterlife, which Dr. Trezel didn't get to treat. <br><br>Dez liked to ruminate on pain.<br><br>Then when Vara finally relieved her of that burned of fear and doubt, she managed to exhale a very long sigh. She could make peace with the thought that Vara may never support her and befriend her the way she and Aria had clicked so long as the graceful mogul believed her when she said she wasn't responsible for that grisly situation in Afterlife. Though Dezthia was surprised at how boldly Vara spoke of Aria's overconfidence being the death of her. She wasn't... wrong. However, that deep seated desire to protect Aria made her feel like even admitting that fact didn't sound right. <br><br>Her earthy green eyes followed Vara as she got up and walked toward her, her flimsy outfit whipping around those shapely legs and keeping her entranced. She sharply breathed in when Vara's fingers, smooth and nimble, cupped her chin up to face her so they stared eye to eye. It felt daunting and arousing. If this was any other asari Dez would probably be making a move by now though she had to tread carefully. Especially when trust was thrown into the mix.<br><br>The stark dose of reality made Dez come forward in the chair. She pushed herself up to stand just across from Vara as opposed to remaining seated like that languid woman in the foyer. "Aria's overconfidence got her killed. I don't plan to emulate that part of her. I'm not one for attention and making a show of things like she did - which she was great at using to control people, of course - I would do things a bit differently. More tact instead of public displays," Dez began to say, making nonchalant motions with her hand as she thought up various changes to Omega's criminal underworld and how it would run more smoothly.<br><br>"Besides, I have a very fast learning curve," the vanguard added, tapping her temple in reference to one of many implants and experiments brought upon her by Cerberus. She was essentially their property.<br><br>Dez took another step forward and reached out for Vara's wrist but thought better of it, and instead gently grazed the inside of her forearm. "So trust me when I say hubris isn't going to cut your investment short. Not much can, really."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mass Effect: Terminus (Odan &amp; Andro)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Odanrav</strong> on <strong>11-07-2016, 23:15:52</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Sorry, I'm used to giving orders to people. Been doing it since N7 boot camp," Wayne muttered with a grin and a glimmer in his eyes. <br><br>"Is that right?" Wayne asked as Wraith intimated her desire for an early favor. It didn't take the man long at all to catch on, and he wasn't one that needed to be told twice, so the mercenary quickly placed his hands on her hips snugly and moved forward till their chests and legs were pushed against each other. <br><br>"You drive a hard bargain... but I drive a harder one." Wayne's fingers cupped around her firm ass, tucked tightly into her jumpsuit, and lifted her up off the ground easily. With a forceful lift upwards he quickly put his forearm underneath her to carry her, while his other hand was around her back, keeping her from slipping backwards. He methodically stepped forward while craning his neck upwards to meet her lips in a sultry kiss until he felt his thighs bang against the table she was leaned up to earlier. With a swipe of his arm the table was clear and he sat her down on it as her legs were wrapped around his waist by then and he was leaning deeper and deeper into their embrace. <br><br>Their "meetings" were always quite frantic and passionate and filled with a lot of hard bargaining. In fact Wayne had come to like the meetings where they argued and bickered over terms the most, those always ended up the most satisfying of his business dealings. Though, he didn't close out business dealings in quite the same manner with anyone else he associated himself with in the underground world of the Terminus Systems. <br><br>Before long Wayne was pulling at clothing, his and hers, trying to strip off whatever he could as fast as he could. She had lit a fire inside him that only burned so hot for her, and he desired nothing in that moment but to be with his beautiful apparition. His upper body was bared after he briefly broke away from their lip-lock, revealing a fit torso (though not so fit as when he was a younger man), and no small amount of scarring, mostly gun shots. The profession of mercenary was a fiscally rewarding line of work, but it wasn't very kind on keeping a perfectly even and unmarred complexion. He counted himself lucky that his face had at least been spared, or else his mysterious lover might not be so keen towards these in-person meetings. Though Wayne was becoming acutely aware of the fact that he was looking progressively older with each passing year, but like a work of art carved from blue marble, Wraith stayed ever the same. He feared inwardly if she would one day search out for someone younger... if she hadn't already. <br><br>Soon enough his under-britches were at his ankles as his naked body was pressed against her, his tool squeezed between their abdomens in a yin and yang of pale and blue skin. <br><br><hr><br>Vara allowed herself to let out a small smirk when Dezthia's fingers brushed across her naked arm, the small blue bumps, almost too subtle to even notice unless looked upon closely, creating a strange sensation on contact for both women. If the old Matriarch hadn't known better, she would be sure that she was being come on to at that moment. But for the time being she made sure to keep up her business-like facade. <br><br>As Dezthia's hand continued to linger closeby, Vara slid her arm up until she held the human's hand with her own in a sweet manner. <br><br>"I believe you. For all Aria's faults, she wasn't a liar. And I see that in her protege as well." Vara moved her body to face the young mercenary directly as her opposite hand clasped Dezthia's other free hand as well and then brought them all up together and light pushed the four five-fingered fists against her bosom with a somehow sad looking smile on her face. <br><br>"And after losing such a dear friend, it would do this old woman good to make a new one." She said as she let go of Dezthia's hands at last and then leaned into her. For a moment it appeared as if Vara intended to kiss Dezthia on her succulent pink lips, but instead moved her head to side slightly to kiss her even more red cheek instead. Her dark blue lips then hovered next to Dezthia's earlobe as she began to whisper to her. <br><br>"But if I am to... invest in you, then I will have to get to know you better. When you are in the position I am in, you must know the people that you are working with after all, inside and out." She said, her voice oozing with seduction and desire by then, the facade fully abandoned. <br><br>"And I'd love to experience this learning curve you've got for myself..." 
			</dd>
		</dl>
		<div id="footer" class="smalltext">
			
			<span class="smalltext" style="display: inline; visibility: visible; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?action=credits" title="Simple Machines Forum" target="_blank" class="new_win">SMF 2.0.19</a> |
 <a href="https://www.simplemachines.org/about/smf/license.php" title="License" target="_blank" class="new_win">SMF © 2021</a>, <a href="https://www.simplemachines.org" title="Simple Machines" target="_blank" class="new_win">Simple Machines</a>
			</span>
		</div>