Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ & Countdown0)
<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: Countdown0 on 08-01-2014, 10:29:03</h2>
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				Title: <strong>Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>08-01-2014, 10:29:03</strong>
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				Adam Svensson stood on the bridge of his ship, the Albatross, and looked out of the front end windows, seeing the galaxy passing by his eyes as they flew across entire nebulae faster than the speed of light. The mass effect drives on the Albatross were incredibly stable, and designed to be able to accelerate to the ship's maximum velocity as quickly as possible. It was a necessity for smuggling, even if most military ships were still occupied with with dragging around cargo for colony worlds to rebuild, as well as the odd big load to help piece the Citadel or Thessia or Palavan back together again. It really brought a smile to Adam's face. It was a good time to be a Red Sand dealer.<br><br>Lot's of customers: people who wanted to forget about the horrors of the Reaper invasion, wounded soldiers looking to dull the pain, or even just the typical junkies. There were always buyers, and Adam's Albatross made him one of the best sellers. Well, in a manner of speaking, at least. Adam Svensson didn't actually go and sell the Red Sand to the druggies himself. Rather, he sold the Red Sand in bulk to Eclipse or the Blue Suns (whom he charged a premium whenever the opportunity presented itself), or other criminal groups. It was nice and lucrative, and it was safer than being some cheap ass grunt for the Blue Suns.<br><br>“We'll be at Omega soon, Captain. Best go get ready,” the helmsman of the ship, one Brody Thomson, spoke up, craning his head back to look at Adam.<br><br>Adam just nodded. “Good. Bring us in quick, and don't get too close to any of the damn gang ships this time. I'd like to avoid a firefight this time,” he said. With that, Adam turned and began to make his way to his own quarters. They were at the top floor of the ship. He got into one of the two elevators and hit the top floor button. On his way up, Adam had already began to start taking off his shirt, wanting to hurry up and get ready. Showing up late wasn't a good excuse to keep his prices high. If he wanted to charge the high prices that he did for his smuggling services, the least he could do was show up early.<br><br>So, Adam started to get undressed before getting to his room. Not that privacy would be an issue. The only person on the ship other than Adam himself who would be in his private quarters was the ship's first mate – if you could call her that - and she was an Asari, so its not like Adam had anything he could cover up that she hadn't seen before. He opened the door to his private quarters, in a hurry to get changed.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>09-01-2014, 08:15:06</strong>
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				Aleria Shasia was your average 'young' Asari. She was reckless, carefree and generally did whatever she really felt like doing and she didn't really like being told otherwise. This is why the ship and crew of the Albatross attracted her in the first place. After the reapers decimated the galaxy and people started to put the pieces together, it was obvious that piracy and criminal activity was going to thrive. Most races had their whole infrastructure blown apart and security and police forces in every system lacked men, weapons and resources. So, the Asari, who had been part of a bigger organization until recently, was profiting.<br><br>She helped the crew of the Albatross shift their wares, mostly the mind bending hallucinogenic known as Red Sand. Asari were liked by almost every species in the galaxy and as a smooth talking woman who knew how to work the assets most males lusted over, she made connections. And those connections helped shift goods, bring in trade and most importantly, kept them in business. Business that was good, making her a lot of credits in the process. Sometimes she would wonder if it was right to profit off of others misfortune and suffering, but those thoughts were dismissed as quickly as they came. The poor sobs were going to buy their drugs from someone, so she might as well get some good money out of it.<br><br>Aleria was currently sat in the private quarters of Adam Svensson, the captain and general leader of this rowdy bunch of brigands. The woman was sat pouring over some date on her omni-tool when the door to the chamber opened, the man walking in to change in a hurry. “We must be nearing Omega.” She said without bothering to look up at him. “I doubt Aria will roll out the welcome mat for a bunch of Red Sand dealers, so what's your plan this time?” She turned and shot him a grin, remembering the last drop off that ended with a small fire, several dead vorcha and a lot of credits for them. Aleria liked carnage and destruction, but only when she could control it. The thrill of battle was great, she had even seen combat against some of the smaller reaper forces, though only against Husks. “Or is this other business?” 
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				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>09-01-2014, 08:39:41</strong>
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				Adam shook his head a little bit when the Asari began speaking to him as he walked into his quarters, still not sure why she felt the need to hang out there even when he wasn't there with her, in his private quarters. "I'm not cutting the crew loose for a night of dancers and hookers, if that's what you're asking," Adam said. Aleria was here, and wasn't moving to leave, so Adam just assumed that she didn't care if he continued getting himself undressed and then redressed. "Yeah, we're closing in on Omega. I wouldn't worry about Aria though," he added. Adam had finished undressing now, completely free of any clothing for the moment while he picked up the underlining of his armor, pulling that on first. The only real purpose of the underlining was to prevent the armor from chafing. It was still a little uncomfortable though. Adam was mostly lean muscle, and didn't particularly enjoy the cramped feeling that the underlining caused. Still, better than getting a rash from the knee and elbow pads. He sighed a little bit once he finally got the underlining on. Running a hand through his dark brown hair, he started to assemble his armor, looking over at Aleria.<br><br>"I mean, technically, we aren't the dealers. We just move Red Sand around the galaxy," he said. "And yes, I know that if I said that to Aria she would probably try to crush me with biotics for being a smart ass." Adam continued. Boots, greaves, next was the chest plate of his dark green armor. "So, the plan is like last time. Except I told Brody to make sure that we're docked away from any gang ships. We take the Red Sand in, still in the containers, and get it to storage. Get our credits, then we get out of there before we draw too much attention. Its a pretty big haul this time, so I was thinking that we'd head to Illium or something afterwards for shore leave for a day or so," Adam said. <br><br>"I mean, I'd heard that the bars and clubs on Illium were starting to open again. You know, give people a place to cut loose and have a good time instead of getting all bent out of shape because of the war and all that crap." Adam had finished getting his armor on now. "Anyway, you ready to go? You're better at convincing these scumbags that they should over pay for product than I am," he said. It was true. Compared to him, Aleria had a silver tongue. He wasn't really a charmer when it came to these kind of dealings. It made sense, really. A lot of the buyers were not human, and most aliens had at least some reason to hate humans. But everyone liked the Asari. Maybe that was all it was. They were so busy checking out Aleria's ass that they were too busy to notice that they were getting swindled. If that made them more money though, then so be it.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>11-01-2014, 08:47:23</strong>
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				The Asari shut off her omni-tool and stood up, moving over to the view port in the captains quarters. She stared out as they approached Omega, the cess pit of the galaxy. She hated the place, but it was a necessary world to live on. You could always be sure someone wanted to do something illegal on Omega, and it had remained largely intact during the reaper invasion, owing to it's lack of significance to most major races. Places like Tuchanka or Earth were hit, home worlds to the most superior races, not Omega, a pointless rock floating around with no importance in the world. Finally the woman turned her stare over to Adam, watching him dress into his armor. "Preparing for trouble I see. It doesn't seem fair that I have to wear the dress and show face while you get to have all the fun." The Asari was referring to an old job they did together, where she had ended up having to fight in a full length dress, which was a tricky affair. "And why aren't we worried about Aria...so that means she is getting a decent cut of our profits again?"<br><br>She sighed and turned back to staring outside, she had seen the captain dress a hundred times, it was always the same routine. He struck the Asari as a superstitious man, the way he made sure his routine was always the same. She listened to him talk, waiting until he was done and not even bothering to point out how his reasoning would never sit well with Aria, unless she wasn't profiting from deals on Omega, you would never be welcomed back. "You really think it will be that simple? And Illium? The dancers will get rich from their credits then. The poor souls, those girls will do anything for a credit mostly. I should know, I used to be one." <br><br>Aleria saw that Adam was ready, which meant that it was time to go and do the drop. She stood and pointed out her outfit, a simple skintight jumpsuit that she left unbuttoned half way at the front, giving her a chance to show off more of her 'charms'. The Asari laughed, it was too simple sometimes to manipulate the minds of males, especially humans. A smile here, a compliment there and heavy usage of cleavage usually got them a better price. Credits were worth every stare and lecherous look in the end. "It's practical and I just know you guys love to get a good look when I bend over."&nbsp; &nbsp;
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				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>11-01-2014, 09:05:11</strong>
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				Adam smiled when Aleria pointed out how he was wearing armor and she was dressed up to look sexy and alluring, but shook his head. "You forget, I need armor to protect me from getting shot. We don't all have biotics," he point out. Adam walked over to his weapons locker and pulled out a Carnifex and a Katana shotgun. Normally he favored a sniper rifle, and he had even managed to steal one of those high tech infiltration upgrades for his omni-tool that would allow him to turn invisible for a brief period. Granted, the light projection couldn't function where it was subjected to extreme stress, like the firing of a gun. But it made sneaking around a hell of a lot easier. Still, he hoped he wouldn't need to put it to use. It was always better when things ran smoothly and he didn't have to empty a few thermal clips to just have his ship unloaded of cargo and his back account loaded with credits. Obviously, things couldn't always good right, but not many of their deals had been totally normal and to plan recently. It would be nice if this one would, though Ada wasn't quite getting his hopes up just yet.<br><br>"We all appreciate the view, you know," Adam said, winking to Aleria when she pointed out that she knew the men on the crew, and most of the crew were men, enjoyed the view of Aleria's ass when she bent over in the jumpsuit. Though, truth be told, Adam liked to see Aleria regardless of what she was wearing. She was a damn good looking woman. Alien. Approximately female by human standards. She was pretty, and Adam noticed. It was that simple. He walked over to her then, and put his hand on the small of Aleria's back, standing next to her as he did so. "Listen I know things with Aria are never so simple. I called in a favor though. Geddon, yes, the guy who offered us a hundred kilos of red sand in exchange for a night with you Geddon, has even things out between me and him. He's going to take care of a problem for Aria inside of the Blue Suns, and in return, Aria will let us close this deal without giving her a cut," Adam said. "Just, don't tell any of the crew. I wanted to surprise them when their payouts are double normal." He added. Aria usually charged them half of the profits in order to let them move red sand into Omega without her cronies getting involved. Adam hated Geddon, and he figured that Aleria probably did too, since the guy was such a pig. But he had gotten the job done this time at least. It was going to save them a lot of money.<br><br>"Besides, you know my rule for the crew when it comes to the crew cutting lose with strippers and such. No drugs and no violence. I know... the dancers don't have it great, not by any means. But no one on this ship is going to make things worse for them. They know damn well that if they do, I'll leave you alone in a room with them, and they wont get what most of them day dream about when they see you," Adam said. He sighed. "Anyway, you look ready to go. We've got buyers, and the longer we take, the less likely they are to let us gouge them for as many credits as we can get," he said, giving Aleria a wink and a smile.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>12-01-2014, 06:18:54</strong>
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				Aleria waved a dismissive hand towards Adam, looking at him with a sour look. "Biotics run out you know, I'd rather have the comfort of some armor than the knowledge that my ass will look good dying." The Asari was never happy to go into the firing line feeling inadequately dressed for battle, but unfortunately for her, she had a job to do and that job meant no armor. She watched the man prep for battle, picking out some weapons, knowing that in the small crowded streets of Omega, close quarters fighting was always going to be what it all boiled down to. The Asari not only had the joy of no armor, she also wasn't able to wield a weapon other than her biotic powers. She was handy in a fight because of them, in all honesty she wanted at least a pistol to protect herself but in the world of ran sand dealing and smuggling, people tend to get angry if you turn up to a drop with a weapon.<br><br>"I know, the crew don't make it very subtle." She bent over, pretending to pick up something from the floor even though there was nothing there. Aleria did it to annoy Adam, she loved to tease sometimes, but it was just one of the informalities the pair had with each other. She was able to sit in his quarters, talk to him and generally act more like a friend than his crew. Her mood soured slightly when she heard the name of Geddon. He was not someone she enjoyed dealing with, especially after the last time that left her with a little less dignity, and him with one less finger. "I hate that man." She said simply, knowing Adam knew this anyway. "I don't trust him and I don't want to owe him a favor. If he wants someone to be his company for the night, you're going." <br><br>"I don't think that is needed. With the way you scare the men into avoiding drugs they won't be getting up to no good." She rolled her eyes again before standing steady as the ship entered the bumpy orbit into Omega. "Don't worry about the girls, they can handle themselves, I worry more about the crew." Aleria checked her omni-tool, making sure she had all the schematics and layouts in Omega downloaded it so if any trouble happened she knew how to escape. "Let's go, we should head to the airlock." She ignored his comment about the crews daydreams.&nbsp; &nbsp; 
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				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>12-01-2014, 06:45:16</strong>
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				Adam nodded in agreement with Aleria, taking a moment before realizing that his hand was still at the small of her back, and then removing it before he walked to the door of his quarters, opening it. "Don't worry. We don't owe Geddon anything. He owed me for stopping you from killing him. Any involvement we have with him is over. I told him that if I saw him again that I was going to take away someone much more valuable to him than one finger," Adam said. When he worked for the Blue Suns, Adam hadn't been one of the typical thugs or hired muscle. He was the guy who got sent on clean up duty or to take care of 'problem individuals' who needed to disappear without it being able to be tied to the Blue Suns. Geddon wasn't a genius, but he probably knew well enough that both Adam and Aleria were perfectly capable of killing him without much trouble at all. He had learned it the hard way from Aleria, and he had seen it first hand when he and Adam had done some jobs with the Suns together. Still, Adam didn't really like dealing with the guy either, but being able to keep the full profits from the deal today was huge. It meant that they could pick up a much bigger shipment next time, and that because of the size of the shipment, they could decide where the deal went down instead of their buyers. Obviously, that would mean not Omega. Adam already had the idea to stage the next big sell on some colony world, but to make the trade off away from any actual colony. No 'land lord' whose palms needed to be greased that way.<br><br>Now was the time to focus though. Adam went with Aleria to the air lock, and a couple of dock workers were there, unloading the cargo. It was done when they arrived, so it was all moved with them. Getting to the warehouses wasn't a long walk, but it was a damned ugly one. Dirty dealings all over the place, uncleaned filth that nobody bothered to clean, the poor trying to beg or peddle useless knickknacks. It wasn't a pretty sight. Omega never was. Still, it didn't take long before they arrived at the meeting place, finding a group of Eclipse jobbers along with one Salarian who probably ran the dealing operation on Omega. "And I thought I liked to show up early," Adam whispered to Aleria. Usually, Adam always got to the meeting place first. That wasn't just because it was good for business, but also to make sure that nobody could get into any hiding places and stage an ambush for them. He stopped and held up a hand, signalling the dockers to stop moving the cargo. He waved them away then and waved down the Salarian. "You must be with Eclipse," Adam said.<br><br>The Salarian looked at them with what Adam figured was probably suspicion. They were hard to read though. Adam could read humans pretty well. Asari had faces like human women, so they weren't too hard to read either. Salarians though. They were hard. "You aren't going to bring it over?" The Salarian asked?<br><br>Adam grinned and shook his head. "Call me paranoid, but I'm not going to step into a potential firing line. Your friends can take the crates and go once we get our pay," He said. With that, Adam put his hand on Aleria's back and patted her gently, letting her know that she was up. Adam wasn't nearly as good a negotiator as the Asari. It was the same plan as always. Convince the Salarian that he needed to overpay, collect the credits, then go. Despite the familiarity of the situation, Adam was ready to go for one of his guns. He didn;t like being beaten to the drop off point.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>12-01-2014, 08:34:01</strong>
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				Aleria looked back at Adam and felt him recoil his hand that was on her. She waited for Adam to stop explaining why she should care about Geddon and what his part in all of this was. "Do you think Geddon will betray us? I know you guys have a history together in the suns, but I don't trust him." She knew the man had a long past with Geddon and the Blue Suns, but it was still something Aleria hated about Adam, his connections to various people. The Asari yawned and checked out her reflection again, making sure she still looked like an average worker rather than a deadly biotic Asari that could kill without really blinking an eye. "You don't think some of your old friends will cause trouble for us do you?" She was referring to his old gang, which had become a little more ruthless and dangerous since the collapse of society in general.<br><br>They stood together in air lock, waiting for the ship to land before they could depart the hulking metal beast. She watched people move the cargo, noticing there was a slight tenseness in the air as everyone was waiting for the drop to start. The wait was the worst part of the whole affair, while waiting people were always on edge. Just then the air lock opened they were finally on the surface of Omega, the cesspit that the Asari had always hated. Aleria wore a look of disgust as both her and Adam started to walk through Omega, pushing aside people begging or trying to sell their useless junk. "Salarians? Trust them to be annoyingly conscientious. I can't stand Salarians, they are too... talkative." Aleria whispered to Adam, watching the man approach them after Adam flagged him down.<br><br>The Asari stood there as he looked at them with suspicion. They were always suspicious about something, perhaps that was why they had the most secretive special operational agency and were always sought after to hack the extranet. Salarians were also cunning and clever, a lot harder to trick than a human would be, but they were still a sentient race, and as such were prone to flattery and deception. Aleria always found it fun to get inside the head of the buyer, to convince them that they were getting a good deal when they weren't. <br><br>When Adam gave her the cue, she stopped forward, closing in on the Salarian and lowering her voice slightly to pretend that she and the Salarian were more likely to be friends than her with that human. "Don't let the human ruffle your feathers, you know how they can be." She smirked and leaned forward slightly, letting her cleavage show a little to see how the Salarian would react to a little bit of sexual openness. "So how much were you prepared to spend for our little old crates old cargo?"&nbsp; &nbsp; <br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp;
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				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>12-01-2014, 09:52:05</strong>
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				The Salarian watched Aleria with notably less suspicion in his expression than when he had spoken to Adam, clearly preferring to negotiate with her than with the human, which shouldn't really have been surprising to anyone. Firstly, human members of Eclipse were limited in number, however Asari and Salarians were much more common. That, and it was pretty much accepted throughout the entire galaxy that Asari were the master diplomats. The Salarian was obviously distracted by Aleria, the way she carried herself no doubt having some kind of effect. While Salarians generally only cared for sex as a means to breed, that seemed different when it came to Asari. Something about them just drew out that side of seemingly anybody. Adam watched,&nbsp; still not really sure how it was that Asari were able to attract so many different species that all had such different genetic make-up. It couldn't just be the fact that they could breed with them. Maybe Asari emitted some kind of pleasant pheromone that got the proverbial 'juices' flowing? Adam decided that he would make a point of asking Aleria if she knew how it worked. Hell, maybe the Asari as a species didn't know. It could just be one of those mysteries of the universe, like dark matter.<br><br>Meanwhile, while Adam was enjoying his internal monologue of which he just suddenly became acutely aware, the Salarian had snapped out of his distracted state enough to pull up some data on his omni-tool and read through it. He told Aleria how much he had been authorized to pay for the red sand on a per kilo basis. Conveniently enough, the crates that were being used for storage were designed to have a built in scale so that anyone who needed to scan or move them would know how much weight they were dealing with. The Salarian punched a couple of the holographic buttons on his omni-tool, and then gave Aleria a total. Adam considered it for a moment. Eclipse was trying to give them standard pay for the amount that they brought in. It wasn't bad, considering that they wouldn't be giving half to Aria this time. But still, part of what made them so successful was Aleria's ability to get the customer to pay more than fair value.<br><br>Adam started to whistle a tune. It wasn't an intrusively loud sound that he made, but it was enough that everyone around would hear it. It only mattered that Aleria heard it though. They'd done this dozen's of times. The whistling was basically Adam's way of telling her to just get however much more she thought she could get and then close the deal. They didn't want to hang around too long in case the Salarian came to his senses and realized that he was being gouged, rather than bartered with. No, they wanted him to figure that one out after they had already gone on their way with the credits in their account. Adam was feeling a bit more confident at this point though. The Salarian was obviously susceptible to Aleria's amble charms. It made him feel better about not being at the location of the deal before the buyer. Just a little bit better though. Adam wouldn't feel completely good about it until after he and Aleria had gotten back on to the ship safely. Still, it did help him feel a lot more sure of it knowing that Aleria had the situation quite well in hand.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>12-01-2014, 19:00:52</strong>
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				Aleria smiled pleasantly at the Salarian, watching him fidget slightly as she stood closer to him than someone usually would. If anyone else had chosen this tactic to negotiate price, the Salarian would have backed away and lowered the price. She knew her race carried a soft spot in most peoples hearts, and it was quite easy to play the sympathetic ear or prey on their moment of relaxation. She reached up and stretched, yawning slightly before flashing another wide smile, her eyes giving him a slightly sultry look. It wasn't obvious that she was trying to look sweet and innocent to him, it was a subtle act she had perfected after years of talking her way out of scrapes, cells or getting Adam and the crew better deals. Aleria knew that pride would be the Salarian's downfall, pride that he and the eclipse were still the rich organization they used to be. <br><br>When he quoted the price to the Asari, she smiled again. "May I?" She discreetly sprayed herself with some body mist, a scent she knew the Salarian would enjoy, and leaned closer to him. She examined the numbers, taking longer than she needed just so the Salarian would experience the perfume she had just used. Aleria had been told on more than one occasion she could work on the citadel with the consort, but she had always declined. Looking back this was lucky, especially after the geth invasion and then the reaper attack on the base. "Oh.." She finally stood back up and looked a little sad. "..I guess the blue suns were right, they told us they would give us a better price. Something about the eclipse being weaker now." The comment sounded plausible enough, and she knew the eclipse member would be hurt by her mention of the superiority of the suns. The gangs hated each other mutually, so she hoped the Salarian would risk a bigger investment just to prove to the suns that were still a force to reckoned with.<br><br>The Asari heard Adam whistling. He didn't need to. Whatever price the Salarian was going to offer, she was always going to ask for more anyway. It was just one of his quirks and she had grown to accept it, must like he accepted that she was never going to be 'ordered' around in the conventional sense. "How about, you pay an extra 3000 credits per kilo, that's still less than the suns but between you and me, I've always liked eclipse more." She winked and leaned closer again, her voice little more than a whisper. "Dealing with the suns is a headache, they don't employ anyone with any intelligence." She nodded slightly towards Adam. "Humans just don't understand things like a Salarian, no perception for business. Besides, you know you can afford it, plus it shows that eclipse still has money and power and isn't afraid to flex it in the face on the suns." She stood straight again and winked. "Besides, dealing with attractive people is always a bonus for me." Aleria was playing her a-game now, winking at the Salarian, bending down to stretch, hoping the eclipse members were being distracted by her ass rather than the price.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>13-01-2014, 12:09:02</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Adam had to admit that he much preferred it when Aleria handled the talking than when he did it. Not just for the obvious reason that she was better at it, and could get them a better deal and a better price than he would be able too, though that was definitely a benefit that he greatly appreciated. But what he enjoyed most was watching her work. She bent down a little bit, no doubt in an effort to distract the Eclipse mercenaries with a lovely view of her ass inside of that dress of hers. Adam would be lying if he said that it wasn't distracting for him as well. It wasn't just that though. There was something extremely sexy about the way that the Asari was able to take control of the situation and get a group of the mercenaries to all bend to her will like she did. It was like watching an artist at work. Often times, Adam almost fell for it himself, truly believing that their buyers weren't being gouged because of how good a job Aleria did.<br><br>It seemed to be working too. The Salarian no longer had a look of suspicion at all. He was smiling, well, <em>beaming</em> really, obviously enjoying being on the recieving end of the gorgeous Asari's attention. "Three thousand extra per kilo?" He asked, reiterating what Aleria had said. He looked at his omni-tool, then at the Asari. Back to his omni-tool again. He was clearly conflicted, but then finally nodded. "Well, I'm certainly not going to let the Suns think that they can just out bid us at every turn," he said. It seemed to make perfect sense to him. Poor bastard. The Salarian agreed, and then made the fund transfer, putting the credits into the Albatross' account. "You drive a hard bargain my dear, but you've got a deal," he said. With the deal done, the Salarian signaled for his lackeys to gather the crates and then take them away, and they moved quickly, though more than a few of them were clearly distracted by Aleria still. "We're done here," the Salarian said, looking at Adam as he spoke. His gaze turned to Aleria again, and he smiled once more, sending something to her omni-tool. "My personal information, in case you ever decide that you want to work under someone with more of a brain," he said to her with a wink before leaving with his group.<br><br>With the dealing done, Adam walked back over to Aleria, placing his hand on her back once again and then grinning at her. "You have no idea how hot it is, watching you convince some dust brain to pay an arm and a leg extra for something he could get elsewhere at half price." Adam said. His eyes went wide as he realized what he'd said, and he quickly cleared his throat. "I mean, uh... good job. I'm sure the entire crew will be competing to buy you drinks for getting us that much more," he said, nodding to her. "We should head back. No reason to wait around." Adam punched in some instructions onto his omni-tool and sent them to the Albatross. It wasn't a long walk back, and once they were on board, the ship was already set to depart. It had been a good day so far, but how much better would Illium be? Adam's brain was scrambling with ideas just thinking about it.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>14-01-2014, 07:40:48</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Aleria turned back to Adam briefly, smiling at him and giving the man a sly thumbs up. She knew she was currently the center of attention, not just for the Salarian but the other mercenaries the were lurking around the dock and keeping a watchful eye on the deal. The Asari knew all eyes, and possibly some scopes, were now trained on her ass and she wiggled it slightly, giving the men a show. The woman caught the sight of her reflection, her blue skin flushed with just a hint of red to make her look shy and innocent. Finally she turned her attention back to the man in front of her, checking Adam's account to make sure the credits had been transferred correctly. She saw that the man had paid the extra 3000's like she had requested and smiled. <br><br>"You made a wise choice. WE shall have to do a lot of business together in the future." The Asari smiled coyly and stretched once more, giving the Salarian one last fleeting look as she made her way back towards Adam, a broad grin spreading on her face as she gave the man a wink. "Like taking candy from a baby." The Asari giggled lightly, making sure she didn't show any signs of any mockery until the eclipse agents were long out of earshot. "I think he liked me." She stated, nodding at the Salarian, who was still looking quite pleased with himself. "So what now captain? I say we haul ass out of here before any of the usual shooting and explosions happen, I don't want to ruin this nice jumpsuit after all."<br><br>She heard him compliment her work, looking up at the man with an air of mild surprise. He had flirted with her before, a light comment here or there but never anything that blunt or suggestive. He was being a little more forward now, and she wasn't sure if she welcomed it or thought it might ruin the good thing she had going. The woman was making a lot of credits quickly, and she planned to move on with her life sooner rather than later. She would outlive all the human crew on the ship anyway, so she figured she might as well enjoy the ride and earn as much as she could now. "You don't have to sound surprised, he was too easy to crack. Salarians, their pride will always be their downfall." She walked with him back towards the ship, talking as they went through the grim streets of Omega. "Well, the guys can buy me a drink, the girls too. I'm sure Rochers has been giving me an eye or two." The Asari laughed, she knew male humans liked that sort of thing. "So are we done now? That seems far too easy a drop. You must have something else planned, otherwise we wouldn't have flown the whole crew over for such a simple task." She looked at a Quarian who was wondering around an alley, obviously lost. "Poor bosh'tet, she has no idea what pit of snakes she has wondered into."&nbsp; &nbsp;
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>14-01-2014, 09:17:04</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"I'm not surprised at how easy it was for you," Adam said. "Just admiring a master at work is all," he said after Aleria explained that Salarians were too prideful, and therefore easy for her to manipulate. Adam himself wasn't sure if all Salarian were overly proud, but he'd agree that the one Aleria had just fleeced for thousands of extra credits definitely was more proud than he ought to be. "Rocher has been giving you an eye or two. Careful though. Most of the guys on the ship give her an eye as well. If something went on between the two of you, every man on the ship would be jealous," Adam said. It was true. Rocher was quite good looking herself, though Adam himself didn't have any particular fancy for her. He was more the kind of guy who preferred to focus on one particular object of desire, and Aleria was easily the most desirable person he knew. It might have been because he enjoyed her company, or maybe it was just because they seemed to work so well together. Still, they were business partners. Anything between them might jeopardize that, so Adam had always held himself back from ever making any real effort with the Asari.<br><br>He looked at the Quarian that Aleria had pointed out as they walked. "True, but Quarians at least always find work fixing other peoples' messes," Adam said. "Seems like no matter where you go, something breaks that needs to be fixed, and Quarian are all good at that kind of thing, so at least she has that going for her," Adam said. This was especially true since the war against the Reapers had ended, and the Quarians had a home world again. Something about Commander Shepard and that Quarian girl who was on the Normandy or something. Adam hadn't really paid attention to the details, but apparently the Quarian had broken the case way back when that let Shepard go after that Saren ass hole. Once that story had been spraead around enough water coolers, Quarians started to get a bit more respect around the galaxy. They weren't treated like Asari, but they had it better now than they did before, that was for damn sure.<br><br>"And I might have something else to do. Its nothing really big, but its too simple to pass up," Adam said. "I was contacted by another old friend from the Suns. Don't worry, its definitely not Geddon. Anyway, there is a package inside of a storage locker. Not sure what's in there, but she said that if we pick it up and take it to Illium, there's half a million credits in it for us. Don't ask why its worth so much, because I honestly don't know, but that's the main reason why I wanted to head to Illium after this drop," Adam said. He had been doing his best to get their conversation moving towards the area where the storage lockers were for a small residential district, and found the appropriate one. It was locked, but he brought up his omni-tool, and quickly had the lock disabled. "Anyway, here's to easy money," Adam said. He pulled a simply looking box out of the storage locker, and then examined it. It was locked, but he'd easily be able to open it. "Now, I was told that if its opened before a certain date and time, then the data inside will all be deleted. So, as much as I'd like to know what we're dealing with here... I'm pretty sure we wont be paid half a million for an empty box," Adam said, looking at Aleria and smiling. "Back to the ship? I'm gonna have a drink in my cabin if you want to have one as well," he offered.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>16-01-2014, 07:40:04</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Aleria just smiled still as they walked, letting him speak about her skills. He did this often, which made the Asari think the man was either in awe of her, or subtly trying to charm her jumpsuit off. "It's rather simple really, though it heavily relies upon being female and non threatening. We haven't dealt with many female buyers, for that I'm thankful." She laughed with him as he mentioned the other woman of the crew and joked about the jealous of the men. "I don't do inter crew relationships, too much fallout. I've got a good thing going here, we all do, so let's not ruin it just yet." She winked and laughed once more, relaxing a little now that the job seemed to be as good as over. The woman couldn't shake the feeling that all was not right though, and she usually trusted her instincts when it came down to it. <br><br>Her gaze was still fixed on the Quarian for the moment as he spoke about their importance in the universe right now. "They have it good now. People need them. Before they saw them as just lawless, nomadic drifters to move on. But now, now they are needed to fix our electronics and rebuild the universe. Ironic no?" The Asari had a respect for Quarian's that many races didn't. She always thought they were peaceful, and their lives seemed so sad and lonely. Every race had a home but them. And though they had no home because of their own fault, they deserved better treatment. "We need to recruit one." Aleria said, taking her eyes off the suited alien and squeezing through a group of merchants haggling over the price of a shipment of the latest copy of Fornax. <br><br>Here was the catch. Aleria knew it was just because of his tone. He knew this was going to annoy the Asari, but she let him start to say his piece anyway. "You know nothing ever good happens when we start to do these side missions." She shook her head, Adam and his loyalty to the suns was sometimes bothersome. He still kept in contact with many of his old friends, and they called in more favors than he owed. "This sounds vague. And a trap. It has to be something very, very dangerous." Aleria was thinking about the task, half a million credits to pick up and package and deliver it. No package is worth that much if it's something simple, and why couldn't they get it themselves? This meant it was something valuable, dangerous, both or a whole number of other things. "No many is ever easy Adam, you know that." She eyed the small box suspiciously. It would be best to go back to the ship quickly, to get away from here and to fly to Illium as quickly as physically possible. "Back to the ship, we need to work out what we've picked up and how many people now want to kill us."&nbsp; 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>17-01-2014, 06:22:51</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Back to the ship indeed," Adam said, obviously agreeing that the sooner they got off of Omega and on there way, the better, given that they were being offered a ton of money for an easy job, and they didn't know what they were transporting. "Look, I know you don't like these kinds of jobs, and that you don't like not knowing what we're transporting. Hear me out though," Adam began and they made their way back to the Albatross. "I'm sick of drug running for people like that Salarian, and the Suns, and the Blood Pack," Adam began. "Its a dead end deal if we can't get out of it. You'll live to be a thousand. I'll be lucky to hit a hundred and fifty, and that's assuming we <em>don't</em> get gunned down because some asshole doesn't like paying the prices we charge for delivery," he said. "So, this package isn't normal cargo. This is a ticket for us to get out of this business. I'm thinking I'll invest it, or buy a chunk of a business that wouldn't get be thrown onto a prison ship," Adam said. He sighed. "I know its dangerous, but what we do now is dangerous anyway. I figured I'd roll the dice and take this job. It should be quick easy, and make us a lot richer," he finished.<br><br>When they go back to the ship and were in the airlock during the decontamination process, Adam looked at Aleria and smiled. "Anyway, course is already set for Illium. If you don't want to, then you don't have to come along when I make the drop. If you want to ceom, the price is set in stone, meaning no haggling, meaning you can wear some actual armor to a deal, instead of wearing the dress, much as I do like seeing you in it," Ada said. "Its up to you." He finished saying just as the air lock opened to allow them into the ship proper. Adam made his way to his own quarters, quite ready to be done with Omega. The Albatross was immediately directed away from Omega, and taken to the mass relay, a course for Illium already plotted. They were on their way now.<br><br>In his cabin, Adam set down the package on his desk, staring at it for a moment. He wanted to know what it was. He didn't know who the buyer was. Only that they had contacted him through some old 'friends' in the Blue Suns. He also didn't know why they wanted this package, or what was inside of it. But if it couldn't be opened before a certain date and time, how would anyone know when the right time was? Maybe the buyer was the person the package was meant to get to? It definitely sounded shady as Adam went over it in his head. Still, it was a big payoff. Adam didn't think he could afford to say no to a deal like this.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>17-01-2014, 08:37:57</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Aleria was uncomfortable with the situation, but she wasn't going to voice anymore concern. "I need a drink." She said simply, looking forward to getting off this dirty dive of a planet and back into the relatively clean ship. The Asari was going to respect her captain, he had always come through in the past and she thought he wouldn't do something to recklessly get them all killed. "I don't know what we're carrying, and I don't like it." Aleria said, she wanted to live the other thousand years she had before her, so was unwilling to needlessly risk that future. But, on the other hand, she knew what this life was like for Adam. He had seen friends die, many many friends die. Everything from the Reapers to just other gangs had taken away everything the man loved or once cared for. "What do you think the likelihood of us getting into a reckless bind and having to shoot a whole lot of people are?" She laughed softly at the man, trying to relax him a little. When Adam was serious, you knew something was troubling the man. "You invest? The Adam I know would prefer to take the money to the bar and watched the dancers."<br><br>"Don't want to come?" Aleria folded her arms across her chest and gave him a hurt look. "You know I wouldn't leave you alone, someone needs to drag you out of there when your trying to get yourself heroically killed." She laughed again, happy that she was going to get to wear her full armor this time. She liked to fight, it was a chance to use biotics and the woman was skilled with a shotgun. She wasn't as good as Adam, he was a natural with a rifle, but she was better than average. "I'll have to make sure it still fits, but other than that, let's do it." The Asari moved to a view window, watching them move away from Omega and towards one of the mass relays. "Goddess watch us." She whispered as the ship hit the relay.<br><br>After a moment the woman made her way, slowly, to his cabin. She didn't knock, she never did. Instead she just walked in, noticing Adam was sat at his table just staring at the mystery box. It wasn't big, nor did it look heavy. The Asari assumed it contained data on something, and for that amount of money, it was important data. "So..." She had changed out of her jumpsuit and was now wearing a tank top and some loose combat pants. "...So this is worth half a million? Wonder what's inside." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>17-01-2014, 09:02:54</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Adam had been sitting in his cabin for some time, staring at the package almost as if he were trying to look through it and read the data on the inside without any kind of technology to help him out. Obviously, it was failing. He wondered why something so valuable would be entrusted to a former Blue Suns mercenary turned into a drug dealer for transportation, and what in all hell could possibly be that damn valuable that it was better to destroy it completely than to let someone else know what it was. Adam knew what these data boxes were like. The data could only be extracted by opening the box, and the box could only be opened without destroying the data at the exact date specified. The exact time was a bit more flexible. Usually once the right time was reached, there was about a five minute window to actually open up the box and get the data out before the data would be deleted automatically. Adam had stolen a few of these from mercenary gangs in the past, but those usually contained data about when and where red sand shipments would be coming in, or something of that nature.<br><br>This data box wasn't a list of drug deals. It couldn't be. That would be valuable, sure, but not even close to half a million credits. Not even in the same world as half a million credits. It was almost maddening, as Adam had always known what his cargo was before. He didn't know now. It was almost scary, because Aleria had a point. It could be something dangerous. If it was worth that much money, and important enough to destroy it rather than let anyone else find out what it was, then wouldn't someone be willing to kill for it? Adam thought about it. He had killed people before, but not just for the sake of money. It was self defense. The people who wanted this... were they the same as him? Or would they be willing to kill just because they want this data box?<br><br>Aleria had walked into his cabin then, and started talking about the data box. Normally, Adam would have said something about her looking good, and hit on her a little bit or something. Flirting with her was something he did a lot. But now... now Adam just couldn't be bothered. He was getting paranoid about this damn data box, and even though he knew he was getting paranoid about it, he was still paranoid about it. "I've only ever seen these used to give orders for things that aren't legal, like drug deals or assassinations," Adam said, looking over at Aleria then. She was dressed casually, while he was still wearing his armor. "Finding something like that, assuming you could lock the data to prevent it from being automatically deleted, would definitely be worth a good bit of money," he began. "But half a million? Not even a tenth of that," he said. Adam took a deep breath and then sighed, looking back at the box. "This thing is making me paranoid. I'd almost want to break it and through it into a gas giant or something, except that they buyers apparently know that we're delivering it. If we don't bring it, what would someone willing to pay half a million credits for whatever this is be willing to do if we destroyed it?" Adam asked, even though he didn't really need an answer to that particular question.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>19-01-2014, 07:07:48</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Aleria was never comfortable when Adam was being silent and calculating, it wasn't his style. She smiled lightly to try and break the mood a little, walking around behind him and putting her hands on the shoulders of his armor. He was staring at the box, trying to figure out what it was she assumed. They were never going to find out the information inside, only the person they were going to deliver this box to was meant to find out what was inside. "Give it up. You and technology don't really go well together anyway." She leaned down and laughed, looking at the artifact over his shoulder. "We've come this far, so we will have no choice but to bring it in." Aleria was wondering if Adam was going to try and go in solo for this mission, he didn't like to endanger his friends or crew for no reason. But there was no way she was going to let him go in alone, even if it meant facing an unknown enemy with unknown motives.<br><br>The Asari woman finally picked up the box and examined it closer, turning it over in her hands and feeling the smooth black surface of it in her hands. "Drell in origin." Aleria said, she had seen this type of device once before in her life, but never this close. Usually boxes like this were made by the Volus so it was strange to see one made by the Drell. "As to what's inside? I couldn't tell you. Even my biotics are of no use here, so until then we just have to try and relax and enjoy the journey." She put the box back onto the table, not taking much effort to place it carefully. The data inside wasn't going to be damaged by anything, so she didn't need to be careful. Obviously the data was important though, so it would be best to hand over the box in somewhat good condition.<br><br>"It could be storing memories. Or even political information. I've heard of them being used for legal means, but at this price it seems... suspicious." She flashed another smile at Adam, wondering how she could cheer him up a little. Finally she stood and walked to a cabinet in his quarters, opening it and pulling out a bottle and two bottles. "The good stuff?" She asked him, holding up a bottle and shaking it at him. "Don't worry about it, it's too late now. It could be anything from anyone. Not knowing the buyer doesn't help." She poured him a glass before filling her own, choosing to sit opposite him now. "Just imagine the credits, the drink, the girls or whatever else you want to imagine." Aleria smiled and winked at him slowly, sipping at her drink, feeling the strong liquid burn down her throat slightly. "If you get rid of it now, we are all dead. And I know you don't want to endanger the crew needlessly. Besides, are you really ready to throw away half a million? We can face whatever is thrown in our way. Didn't you fight reaper forces in a ground fight? That would be worse than whoever this belongs to." She was trying to distract him, bring up old glory and past fame, relax Adam before the real storm hit them. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>19-01-2014, 07:40:30</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Adam took the drink from Aleria, though he was still staring at the data box when he did so, beginning to somewhat regret his decision to accept this job while being so blind to what he was going to be transporting. "Thanks," he said when he got the drink, sipping at it. He sighed and then looked at Aleria, finally, when she brought up him fighting against Reaper forces on the ground. "Reaper weren't the same as this. They were at least an enemy we could shoot at. I can't shoot this box and make the problem go away," Adam said. He appreciated that Aleria was trying to help him deal with his uneasy feeling. If nothing else, he needed to get over it so that he would be better focused when making the drop, just in case things weren't exactly on the up-and-up. It was a paranoid way of thinking, but it was the right way to think about things. Ada supposed that it could be political information. Half a million dollars for transportation was a steep price. "What kind of political information do you think would be worth paying half a million for?" He asked, looking at the box and then to Aleria again.<br><br>"Maybe some kind of proof that a member of the council is embezzling public funds to pay for a drug problem? Half a million... someone could probably leverage that into millions of credits. Might be worth it," Adam said. He thought about that. It was definitely a possibility, though still, it didn't sound right. "But why be anonymous about it, if that were the case?" Adam asked, talking to himself as well as Aleria then. He knew that being analytical wasn't something he usually did, but right now, he felt like he had to. "Sorry, I'm probably coming across as being ridiculously paranoid," he said, continuing to drink and considering Aleria for a moment. "But I don't think that drinks and dancers is what I'd spend half a million credits on, for the record," Adam said. "I'm not that stereotypical of a career criminal," he began. Finished the rest of his drink and then looked at Aleria seriously for a second. "Am I?" He asked, obviously joking. She was right. He had to relax and just focus on getting the job done rather than worrying about the contents of the data box. Getting hung up on what might be inside wasn't helping him or anyone else.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>20-01-2014, 03:50:55</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Well..." Aleria grinned playfully, standing up and taking a pistol Adam had kept on a bookcase. "...We can shoot at the problem when it appears." She smirked slyly and set the gun back down, finishing her drink and helping herself to a second. She didn't want to become intoxicated, that would be bad before such an important mission, considering Adam was going to need her anyway. She turned her gaze lazily back to the box, putting the bottle down in front of it to block Adam's view of it. She pondered his question for a moment, she had seen a lot more of the political structure of the universe than he had. There was a huge number of diplomats, government organizations and political leaders. That meant there was a huge amount of dirty laundry out there for people to exploit. She had seen diplomats embezzle credits, covert agents spill drunken secrets to dancers and important men and woman say anything in a moment of weakness. "Who knows, but there is a lot of people out there who would love to topple the fragile governments we have right now."<br><br>She sat herself on the table and set her glass down, flicking up her omni-tool and looking at it. "So, we've got three hours until we reach Illium, we can keep guessing at what it might be, or just accept we don't know. We don't know what we're carrying, who is after it, who is after us, if we will die, if we will live or even if we will actually get paid." Aleria shrugged, she hated a mission with so many unknowns but the Asari was just going to have to accept it. "Or maybe, we should just ignore it and do something else." She was a little worried about Adam, the way he was just staring at it, driving himself crazy asking questions they couldn't answer. "Come on, you met me when I was a dancer. You might not be a stereotypical criminal, but you're still a single man." She laughed and gently poked his armored chest, trying to distract the man from thinking too much about their inevitable doom. "Sure I was just pretending to be a dancer when I was actually a mercenary, but you didn't know that." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>22-01-2014, 11:58:49</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"We wont die," Adam said after Aleria brought that possibility up. Of course, he wasn't actually positive enough to make that a real guarantee. If he could promise Aleria and himself that they weren't going to die, he would. If they did, it was on him. It was his fault for taking this job. He looked at Aleria when she said that, while he wasn't a stereotypical career criminal, he was single, as though that meant he would burn his money on girls and drinks. He looked down at her hand when she poked him in the chest, and then back up at Aleria again. "If I didn't know better, I'd think that you were flirting with me to try and make me feel better," Adam said. "And if I thought you were doing that, I'd probably find something to get worked up about every day to get you to keep doing it," he added, laughing a little bit and downing the rest of his drink. He set his glass down on the table and then look at Aleria seriously for a moment.<br><br>"I didn't know exactly what you were when we met, no," Adam admitted. "But it didn't take me very long to figure out that you weren't just a club dancer. Run of the mill club dancers can drop a Krogan on his ass with a biotic punch in the face when he get's too touchy," Adam said. When she had been dancing, like with any other dancers in clubs, there were rules. Customers couldn't touch. Dancers could touch them, of course. But the customers had to keep their hands to themselves. Sometimes that particular rule wasn't followed, and when it happened, bouncers would usually step in. Of course, Aleria didn't actually need a bouncer to step in for her. She could definitely handle herself in a fight. "But you know, I do wonder, why were you dancing? Did you just enjoy it, or was it some kind of elaborate cover up?" Adam asked. "Or was it just a good way to get money, because hey, you're Asari, and everyone likes Asari?" He added as another option that sounded reasonable to him. It was true. Everyone liked Asari. Well, that was an exaggeration. MOST people liked the Asari, and for a good reason.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>26-01-2014, 07:58:53</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"We wont." The woman replied, sounded as defiant as she thought she could at that point. She knew they both knew that they couldn't be certain of their future, but right now, it wasn't the best time to dwell on it. It was the look on his face when she had poked him that caused Aleria to giggle again softly, resting herself on the table once more. While he talked, she idly kicked her feet backwards and forwards, trying to dissolve the obvious in her mind, and that was they were more than likely about to get into some sort of incredibly dangerous firefight. "It's not my fault." Aleria giggled again, using her more sweet and innocent tone of voice. "It's genetics. We know how to make a man feel happy." She let the works sink in as she shot him a wink and stood, smoothing down her clothes.<br><br>"I was...an explorer." She answered after a pause, wondering exactly how to answer that question herself. The woman had been drifting through the galaxy, young and bored and looking for trouble. Not serious trouble, nothing that would lead her to be killed, just young trouble. She had found that trouble in the form of dancing, shaking her ass on stage to whooping men and lots of credits. She didn't show too much skin, nor did she ever do anything with a guest so it was harmless, easy credits. "Easy credits, plus I did sort of stir up some trouble and needed to hide. I may have 'accidentally' stopped some humans from exploiting a Quarian. Accidentally involving blood and pain." Aleria grinned at the memory then shook her head. "I didn't expect to end up dancing on Omega though, but the credits flowed while Archangel was doing his thing." She was fond of the Taurian, or at least her idea of him.&nbsp; 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>29-01-2014, 05:44:31</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				They way she said it, and that wink. Adam was easily distracted by Aleria. He was quickly losing any worry he had regarding the drop off of the locked up data box, his brain instead working through all of the things that Aleria could do that would make him happy. "Of course you do," he said when she pointed out that Asari all knew how to do it. "And women. And Jellyfish. And amphibians..." Adam said. It seemed like, literally, every species in the galaxy liked the Asari in that way. Adam himself ha never experienced what that 'mind meld' that Asari did during sex was about. He really wasn't sure how it worked. He wasn't a biologist though, so obviously, it wasn't something he could easily understand based on explanations from other people alone. He listened, trying to focus on what Aleria was saying and not on the shape of her body. It was a challenge, that was for sure. "So a Turian vigilante made dancing in a club more profitable?" Adam asked. He thought about how that worked. The only way he could reason that would work would be that, with the gangs all focused on Archangel, they wouldn't be bothered about claiming protection money from the dancers.<br><br>"You have a soft spot for Quarians, don't you?" Adam suggested.&nbsp; She talked about intervening when humans were exploiting a Quarian, and Aleria had also mentioned that they needed to find a Quarian who could join their crew. Adam definitely wasn't opposed to the idea. Quarians were excellent with ships and engines and repairs and such. He couldn't think of a way that having a Quarian crew member would be bad. Obviously, they would have a sensitive immune system. But the Albatross was about as clean as a ship could get, short of filling the cabins each to the top with fluid antibiotics.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>29-01-2014, 07:38:59</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Aleria giggled again at Adam, she knew she was teasing the man and it was working, it always worked. She didn't know if flirting with her captain, her friend and ,most importantly, the man who was currently mulling over the potential end of his life was a good idea but it was cheering him up or distracting him at the very least. "Well, I can say I've never had the erm... delights... of bedding a Drell or a Hanar." She had never found the Hanar attractive, or the Volus for that matter. And Vorcha? She wasn't going to lower herself to that. Aleria wondered if it was even possible to reach the mind of a Vorcha, they weren't the smartest creatures in the universe, even the pijaks had more brains than them. "Archangel was tearing up the city, the gangs all met in the club, after a days fighting and frustration they enjoyed watching an Asari bend for them. You get the idea." She curled her lips into a coy smile, she did make a lot of credits during that time.<br><br>"I do." She admitted when he spoke of Quarians. "I feel sad for them. Brilliant minds, very resourceful and they get to experience so little of the wonders of the universe. Plus, just something as simple as mating can kill them." Aleria shrugged for a moment, wondering what that isolated feeling would be like. "We need one. Remember when the engines went down last year? It took us nearly six weeks to repair them." Aleria didn't have much interest in sleeping with a Quarian, but she liked their company and had spent a few months on the Flotilla once, they were all very... polite.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>02-02-2014, 07:32:00</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"A, see, that makes sense," Adam said when Aleria explained that the gangs were all wanting to blow off some steam by going to watch dancers and drinking to deal with Archangel handing them all their asses and ruining their rackets. "I can definitely see the appeal of Asari dancers and alcohol, especially if you and your friends just spent a bunch of time and money trying to not get beaten down by a hard ass vigilante," he said. He listened to her talk about the Quarians then. Adam did like the suited aliens too. For the most part. Not as much as Aleria did though. He never really considered them to have brilliant minds, and he still didn't really understand how mating could actually kill one of them. It was something about an immune system problem, but he was no doctor, so he didn't know all the proper terms for it. "Well, if either of us meet a Quarian who would be willing to come along for the ride, then they are welcome to it," Adam said, smiling at Aleria.<br><br>"So, do you always lay a biotic ass kicking when guys get touchy with you?" Adam asked, referring to the Krogan again. "Or does that only apply to when you're on the job?" He added. He didn't think that Aleria's flirting and teasing was serious. Hell, she'd never been serious before, as best he could tell. Still, Adam didn't see any harm in reciprocating. It was always fun to flirt with a beautiful woman, and Aleria was definitely that. Even if she could crush him into a small enough size to fit into a cup with her mind.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>03-02-2014, 04:44:07</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Aleria smiled again and reached up high, stretching which had the added effect of pushing her breasts out towards Adam. She smiled fondly at the memory of her time on Omega, more of the credits she received dancing. While they were getting their asses handed to them, they were handing her ass money. "Usually the alcohol is stronger so the men give more money to the dancers. Obviously Aria would take a large cut." The Asari sat again and pushed her glass to one side, she was done drinking, as she feared getting drunk before the big drop. Nothing was going to inhibit her ability to fight and potentially have all of them killed because she was drunk. "I'll stop talking about Quarian's now, honest." She grinned and put her hands behind her head, smiling and putting her boots up on the table in front of her.<br><br>"Usually, when they get too touchy they have usually had too much alcohol. And it's quite easy to make a drunk fall." She grinned, closing her fist which glowed blue lightly, showing her biotic skills. "It only applies when I'm on the job...or unless I'm bored." The Asari grinned with a mischievous smile at Adam. Perhaps she was flirting a little too much, though she wasn't too concerned about it. Adam was a good man, and he was the captain of her ship so it would make things a little more awkward if things fell through.&nbsp; &nbsp;
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>05-02-2014, 09:15:07</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Very true," Adam agreed when Aleria pointed out that making a drunk fall was far from difficult. "Sometimes you don't even have to touch a drunk person to make them fall. They do it themselves," he added, laughing a little bit and then looking at the glass that he had been drinking from, and then at the glass that Aleria had been drinking from. "You've probably been drunk enough to fall on your own at least once. Hard to imagine living even one hundred years without getting hammered. More than that... I don't think its possible unless someone abstains from drinking entirely. And that... well... I don't know why anyone would want to do that," he said. He wasn't sure how Asari took to their age being brought up. Among human women, it was taboo, to say the least, and could earn a man a scowl, or sometimes an outright slap. But Asari lived for as much as a thousand years. Adam know that Aleria was pretty young by Asari standards, but certainly old enough to had gotten black out drunk at some point. Hell, he wasn't even thirty, and he'd been black out drunk a dozen times in his life. Or... was it fifteen times? He wasn't sure. But then, wasn't that the point of being black out drunk?<br><br>He smiled at Aleria then and stood up in front of her, looking at her as though he were trying to put together a piece of a puzzle. "I wonder if its the threat of a biotic beating that keeps me from trying to get touchy," he began, laughing at himself a little bit. "Or if its something more along the lines of 'we work together,'" Adam said. He was mostly joking. He and Aleria had a good work relationship, and were good friends. Those two things combined made him more than a little uneasy to make an effort to actually pursue Aleria in any kind of intimate way. That, and the fear of being eviscerated by her mind. Though, that was mostly a joke. He was pretty sure they were good enough friends that she'd never try to maim him if he did make a move. He sighed, and took his glass up, heading over to where his drinks were kept. He thought about getting another, but didn't want to start the partying until after the possibly life or death situation of the data box exchange was done. He set his glass down on a shelf and looked over at Aleria. Damn though, he'd really like to pursue something more.<br><br>"So, did Aria take from you the same fifty percent cut she usually takes from us?" He asked. "Or do dancers get a different rate?" He asked. Hell, Aria may have changed her rates since she got control of Omega back. Her 'taxation' of the various business practices that took place on Omega had certainly helped to get everything fixed up and running again. Adam could appreciate that. Of course, when it took half his profits, it stung a little bit.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>09-02-2014, 22:50:07</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"If people like Asari then they LOVE alcohol." The woman smiled and took a glance out of the window, they were getting closer to Illium now, it wouldn't be long until it was time to drop off that package and possibly it was time for them to all die. "Humans are the worst at holding their liquor, and they have the weakest drinks. Some of those Taurian drinks feel like getting hit by a biotic slam while hitting a mass effect relay at the same time." She looked at her empty glass when he had referenced her getting drunk. "Sure, you gotta drink when you're exploring the world." Aleria just shrugged and grinned, giving Adam a coy little look from the corners of her eyes. "Poor humans, what's that term...the star that burns brightest burns shortest? We Asari take our time, drink slowly and black out at home in the arms of a lover... or lovers." Aleria had some rather wild tales of her own, but they were for another time and she doubted Adam would really want to hear all the gory details of her life prior to meeting him.<br><br>She gave him a puzzled look as he stood and stared at her. It was either the alcohol or impending doom that was making him say things like this and the woman didn't like it. "The way you run head first into danger, I would have thought you were a masochist or at the very least suicidal." Aleria smiled again. "Besides, you've seen me at my worst and I could give you more than a beating." Reaching out, she ran a hand over his cheek and smiled warmly now, a genuine smile. "Don't worry, I wouldn't want to hurt that handsome face." Aleria stuck her tongue out at him and giggled, standing straight and backing away from him a couple of paces. <br><br>"Fifty percent? You got off lightly then." The woman frowned. "We were lucky to get even a quarter of what we earned. There is always girls in the universe willing to shake their ass on stage, so she knew she could take our credits quite easily. It's Aria's way or the highway." Aleria respected Aria as much as one Asari could, she had a thriving market, a stable city and was bouncing back well from the reaper invasion. But, exploitation, corruption and dealing with some of the most vile people you could imagine was hard to ignore.&nbsp; &nbsp;
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>13-02-2014, 07:26:48</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Not all humans are that susceptible to booze," Adam said. "Besides, Quarians get drunk faster and cheaper than we do. I mean, you know, I've heard alcohol is way worse for them than for anyone else," he said. "And I'm not suicidal. Masochist? Ehhh... only a little bit," he said. "I enjoy it when things get a little rough now and then, I'll admit," Adam said with a wink to Aleria, obviously not talking about combat. He laughed a little bit when she said she wouldn't want to hurt his 'handsome face', admittedly missing the warmth of her skin against his own. Why did she have to be so damn alluring. Damned Asari. "A quarter?" He asked, almost in disbelief, but knowing enough about Aria to know that she would definitely take that much money from her 'girls'. She was a harsh business partner, to be sure. Adam knew from personal experience. Granted, he'd never been a dancer, but he'd been working with Aria for a while now.<br><br>"Captain, we'll be at Illium in about an hour sir," Came the voice of the pilot over the ships intercom.<br><br>Adam sighed and looked at Aleria then. "Not that I wouldn't like to watch you change into your armor, but I think that's probably your clue to get your gear on," Adam said, laughing a little bit. He walked over to his gun rack and grabbed his Carnifex and his snipe rifle. He looked back to Aleria for a moment. "Uh... I'm pretty sure you already know but... best we not mention any of this to the crew," Adam said. "I'd rather none of them end up worrying about this. Once we get to Illium, they are all going to head out to a club or something. We've got an invitation to go too. I wont be joining them until after this. I guess you probably saw a lot of the club scene when you were dancing, but at least this time you wont have to shake your ass on stage," he said.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>16-02-2014, 02:10:35</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Aleria laughed with a smile. "Well, you're the human I've spent the most time around, so that's the best example I have." She pointed to his full liquor cabinet with a chuckle and stretched once more. The downtime was nice, but it was hard to truly relax with the mission they were about to face hanging over them. "Quarians do get drunk easily yes, they can be very fun drunks though....some lovely machines they have." The Asari grinned, remembering back to a fond memory of her and a device that a Quarian had made for people. "And yes, a quarter. Aria taxes other Asari the most, I'm sure she fears someone coming in and trying to muscle her out of business or she just likes taking credits. I think both. But I made enough and hid enough to get off that stinking rock." She never did like her time on Omega and was more than happy to jump at the chance to leave, and that chance was Adam.<br><br>"An hour, time to get final prep done then." She responded as the intercom alerted them of their position. She watched her captain go and pick up his guns, he always did this when he was a little anxious. He was the type to fidget whereas Aleria was generally relaxed. If she stressed herself out or worried too much then the mission was far more likely to run into 'complications'. "My lips are sealed. I won't mention this to anyone." The woman nodded in response to her captains orders, walking over to where he was checking his guns. "Oh, I don't mind, who knows if we survive this I might just have to give you a private show." She grinned to herself playfully and moved around in front of him, making sure he could see her before taking the hem of her shirt in her hands. "Maybe this will be incentive to keep you alive." The Asari pulled her shirt up, exposing her soft and full breasts to the man, making sure he had enough time to fully take them in before lowering her shirt and walking towards the door, swaying her hips as she did. "Survive this and might just see the full package." She turned and winked before stepping through the door, leaving to her own chambers to get ready.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>16-02-2014, 04:34:11</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Just because I have a nice collection, doesn't mean I'm a lightweight," Adam said, jokingly protesting the Asari's words. He was smiling a little bit as he spoke, looking over at his cabinet of various liquors and hoping he'd be able to see it again. Hell, we has hoping he'd see any part of the inside of his ship again. With what they were about to be doing on Illium, he might not. Bet to try and think positive though. He'd see inside of the Albatross again. Of course he would. He thought about what Aleria might have meant by the 'lovely machines' that Quarians had. Then the idea of Aria taxing other Asari most harshly took over in his mind. Did she think that another Asari was most likely to take over Omega? Interesting theory, especially considering that it was a human who had taken Omega for her during the war with the Reapers. Maybe that's why it had worked out for the guy. Aria had been so focused on other Asari, that she hadn't considered a human a real threat to her position. Or maybe the guy had just gotten lucky. Adam really didn't know enough details of what had happened with Aria and Omega to decide what to believe.<br><br>Adam smiled and nodded to Aleria when she said that she wouldn't tell anyone of the crew what the two of them would be doing before making their way to the shore leave party. Then she was standing in front of him, in between him and his gun locker. "Aleria?" He asked, wondering what she meant by a 'private show.' She could meant that she would- ... and then she had lifted her shirt, giving Adam a close up view of her breasts. He just stared for a moment while Aleria seemed to wait there. Then as she lowered her shirt and walked off, her hips swaying and distracting his gaze lower to her ass, Adam couldn't think of anything to say. He hadn't been expecting <em>that</em>. Then her last words and the wink that followed. "Well..." Adam said to himself. If Aleria had began their conversation like that, it probably would have been much easier for her to distract him. For a minute, Adam had forgotten what he was doing.<br><br>Then he remembered that he was still wearing his armor, and finished getting himself ready. A few minutes later, Adam made his was down to the air lock, taking a seat and waiting as the Albatross approached the Nos Astra docks. As they landed, Adam stood up, ready to go. He had the data box in his left hand, and looked down at it, still wondering what was inside, though half of his mind was still thinking about what was hidden inside of Aleria's clothes, not inside of the data box.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>22-02-2014, 04:53:31</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Aleria was already waiting for Adam at the airlock. She tapped her foot nervously as she hummed a little tune to herself. The Asari was finally in her armor now, a deep purple tinted suit that was scratched and scarred from seeing a lot of battle action. She had a shotgun slung over her back and a small pistol on her hip, the pistol was silenced though mostly because she generally kept it concealed at Adam's request. They were going to be marching into whatever awaited them so the woman wanted some reliable weapons to take into a fight with her.<br><br>She turned her head when she saw Adam. She cleared her throat and looked out of a window, trying to see if there was any sign of enemy ships ready to ambush them at any given moment. "So, plans?" She didn't want to mention what happened in his cabin, she had a moment of madness and wondered if her actions would be slightly harmful to the mission. "We can still just jettison the package out of the airlock into a sun or something." Aleria grinned with a joke, pulling her pistol out and checking the magazine in it. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>22-02-2014, 05:38:28</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"If I thought we'd get away with it, I might do that," Adam said, looking at Aleria seriously for a moment. He was serious. He <em>might</em> do that. Half a million credits at the risk of being killed? It was a tough call, to say the least. It was a lot of money. Its not like Adam hadn't been in a few gun fights before. He had. He just had never not known who was going to show up, or what they would be willing to do to get what they wanted. But with that kind of money, Adam would be able to do something safer for a living. Or at least make harder bargains, since he would have some money in the bank to fall back on if he didn't get what he wanted. He had been staring off into nothingness for a while, and then finally drew his gaze back to Aleria again, trying to not think about her showing him her breasts in his cabin earlier on. It was difficult to forget, but the looming threat of death was starting to weave its way into dominance in the forefront of his mind again.<br><br>"As for plans... hand this over, get the money, and then leave as soon as we can," Adam said. "And if whoever is there starts shooting, we keep our heads down and get the hell out of there," Adam said, looking back at the Asari again. The airlock opened up as they had finally finished docking at Nos Astra. Adam started walking, and pulled up his omni-tool, checking out the directions he had documented. They were going to be meeting in some... well, its not a slum. Not on Nos Astra. It would be more accurate to call the place they were heading 'no man's land'. The various gangs like, the Blue Suns and the Eclipse, were constantly fighting over it, but no one could actually take control, and meanwhile, the people who lived their just kept their heads low.<br><br>Adam found the warehouse that they were supposed to meet at and knocked on the door. "Who's there?" Cam a voice though an intercom.<br><br>"Delivery for 'Mr. Finch," Adam said. From what he had been told, there was no Mr. Finch. That was just the password to get inside without immediately being shot in the head by the guards at the door. The door opened. Inside was just a large, empty room. It seemed like no one kept anything here. Adam felt uneasy. There was five people standing in the middle of the warehouse, obviously waiting for them.<br><br>"You must be the crew from the Albatross?" Came a voice whose tone was more statement than question. "Glad you could make it. You have the package?"<br><br>"We have it," Adam said. He started walking forward, as did the man who spoke to him. They met in the middle. "Do you have the money?" Adam asked.<br><br>"Once we confirm that the box hasn't been tampered with or damaged, the money will be wired into your account," the man, who looked to be a little bit passed middle aged, said, taking a look over to Aleria for a second before looking back to Adam again.<br><br>Adam nodded and offered the data box to the man, who took it eagerly. He held it up to eye height, examining it before bringing up his omni-tool on his other hand, scanning it. "Very good. Everything checks out here," he said. With that, he turned and nodded to the four me who stood behind him. They all turned to leave, and the middle aged man began to walk after them.<br><br>"And our payment?" Adam asked.<br><br>The older man stopped and looked back at him then. "Your payment, yes," he spoke, as though remembering some false promise made to a child. Suddenly, there was a loud cracking noise that echoed throughout the warehouse, coming from just beside the door way they had come inside. A woman was standing there with a sniper rifle, the effects of a tech based stealth system showing themselves as they wore off. "Silent martyrdom should do quite nicely, I think," the man said, turning to leave.<br><br>Adam felt a harsh thud hitting his back before he even heard the sound of the gun shot. He felt cold falling down his body from his chest, and his gaze was turned down. A bullet had ripped right through him, from his back to his front, leaving a hole in his armor behind. A sniper rifle from that range... his kinetic barriers hadn't stood a chance. Adam crumpled to the floor, a pool of blood forming around him and the five men in the middle of the warehouse ran for the back side, and the woman who had shot him turned to try to fire on Aleria. Adam could hear yelling, and another gunshot, though both noises sounded so very distant, like an echo coming from across an ocean. Then there was blackness...
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>22-02-2014, 10:06:12</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Aleria knew <em>KNEW</em> this would be a bad idea but she was here to support him anyway. "We can just enter the terminus system and hide. It's not like your client will find us right?" She smiled lightly and tapped on her omni pad for a moment, waiting for everything to play out exactly how she thought it would...chaotic. The money, half a million credits, would be good but not good enough for them to die for. Whats the point in money if you're dead right? The woman caught his glance, wondering what he was thinking of as he looked at her. Perhaps he was still thinking about her breasts, she had that effect on most men and he wouldn't be any different. Though, she didn't mind if he did think about that, she almost welcomed it.<br><br>"So the plan is, get in, get out and spend our credits?" The Asari laughed and then realized that the seriousness of the situation meant she shouldn't really joke about it. "I can almost guarantee someone will shoot and it will be an ambush." It wasn't long until they were walking through the streets and meandering their way to a warehouse that was almost more than obvious it was used for criminal purposes. Blue Suns, Eclipse? No, it didn't seem like either of those groups would own a place like this. Private mercenaries more likely, blood thirsty killers or criminals that needed some money for their next hit of red sand and would be happy to kill someone for it. "This is it then?" The Asari asked as Adam made his way to the entrance of the place. She checked her pistol and shotgun quickly, making sure they were both in good working order before they entered this place.<br><br>As they walked into the place, Aleria saw the people inside. They were waiting for them and had been for an unknown amount of time and this meant that Aleria thought they would be trigger happy at this point. Furthermore, with them all at the center of the place there has to be more lurking elsewhere. It wouldn't make sense otherwise. When the middle aged man finally spoke, Aleria turned to scan the place again. She didn't want to look at the person who was obviously giving her more than his fair share of glances. Things were just playing out dully when it suddenly happened, everything she expected to happen. The man refused to pay them and then they were threatened with death. Aleria pulled her pistol out but it was too late, she heard the shot ring out which caused her to spin around quickly. There was a woman holding a sniper rifle and she had just shot at Adam. <br><br>She saw him slump in the corner of her eye, and rage ran through her. She ran forward quickly, her fist was glowing bright blue as it coursed with biotic rage. She slammed it hard into the girl, tossing her to one side with the force. It was then that bullets started to ring out, hailing down at her as she managed to slide behind some crates. "Adam...?" Her voice called out over the sounds of fire, the woman blindly returning fire with her pistol. She was out numbered, out gunned and about to die.&nbsp; 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>27-02-2014, 02:13:40</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				When the woman with the sniper rifle dropped, the rest of the people in the warehouse began to move away from Aleria, trying to get themselves away from fire, and all of them making sure that the older man, and especially the box that he was carrying, made it out without being shot. So the man was ushered out of a door on the other side of the warehouse. The rest of them began to file out, never turning their backs on Aleria and firing at her, trying to keep her from being able to hit any of them. They weren't really trying to kill her at this point. They were trying to get away. It made sense, really. They already had the box, and Adam was the only one who knew all the information and the one who knew where the job had come from. Well, as far as they knew. Once all of the group who had survived the gun fight had left, the warehouse was silent. Totally, and completely silent.<br><br>Aleria calling out to Adam hadn't been answered, and now that the gunfire had stopped, Adam still hadn't moved. His face was pale, his eyes shut. But there was a slight beeping noise then, coming from Adam's omni-tool. It was rhythmic. It was a heart monitor. dam's omni-tool had a medical program that was designed to shoot him full of medi-gel if his blood pressure were to fall. It had kicked in, and the beeping was meant to tell him that he needed to find help. Of course, Adam couldn't hear it right then. He was unconscious. But he was still breathing, if barely, and his heart was still beating. Perhaps it was dumb luck that he was alive, or perhaps it was because of his tendency to load helpful and protective programs onto his omni-tool, but Adam was still alive. For now.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>06-03-2014, 08:33:31</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Aleria had noticed a slight dip in the amount of shots that were rattling into her hiding place. She took a chance to steal a glance into the warehouse and noticed that most of the people that had been shooting at her were making their escape. Perhaps they deemed her unnecessary to kill or they just had other plans for her though none of this mattered to her for the moment. What was more pressing was rescuing her dying or even dead captain. The Asari didn't want to think about that little fact and was convincing herself that he was still alive, he had to be. They had survived too much together for him to just be shot with his guard down by some bitch with a rifle. A surge of anger coursed through her now, causing a blue aura to shimmer around her. Her biotic abilities were just itching to be unleashed on someone. She came out from behind the crates again and saw one last person filing out, shooting roughly in her direction. The woman wrapped him in a biotic field and slammed him hard into the floor. The crunch of metal and bones echoed throughout the empty building. He was surely dead or at least mortally injured. <br><br>She ran to her captain and knelt down by his body, he was still alive. <em>'Thank the goddess'</em> the woman thought to herself as she boosted the omni-gel that was being pumped into his body. Pulling him carefully to the exit of the warehouse she managed to contact the ship and tell them roughly where they were. All she could do now was wait. When Aleria heard a groan behind her, she stopped and turned. The sniper hadn't died, this caused her to march over to the woman and drag her to her feet, ripping the gun away from her hands and smiling. "You're coming with me, and you might just wish that biotic slam killed you."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>08-03-2014, 10:10:19</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				It didn't take a terribly long time before most of the crew of the Albatross had arrived at the warehouse, including Benny, who was the closest thing that they had on the ship to a doctor. Benny had been a medic in the alliance military for a few years, but had been honorably discharged after losing the lower half of his left leg during combat against Reaper forces. Reapers hadn't had any respect for medics... or anyone, really. So when Benny had tried to get to a wounded soldier, he had been in the blast radius of a grenade, and hadn't been able to get fully to safety. Still, he was good with this kind of thing. Someone who was actually dying from a bullet wound. It was his specialty, really. "Holy shit," Benny said, pulling off the torso pieces of Adam's armor. "Well... he's lucky, that's for sure," he said. He was looking at Adam's omni-tool. "The bullet missed his heart by about a centimeter and a half, if even that," he explained. He looked at a couple of the other members of the crew. "There's really nothing I can do for him with that amount of blood loss though. We need to get him to a hospital," Benny said.<br><br>He looked at Aleria then. "Asari doctors are good, right?" He asked, obviously a little unsure. Benny wasn't a doctor. He knew how to stabilize people, and patch up scraps, bumps and the occasional mild bullet wound... but something this delicate needed a real surgeon.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>11-03-2014, 18:50:13</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Once the Albatross had arrived, Aleria had helped haul Adam on board, returning to throw the injured sniper into a locked storage room and returned to speak to Benny. He was a medic, or there and there abouts. He had served alliance and seen heavy combat but had to be discharged after suffering serious injury. The woman just leaned back and watched him take off Adam's armor, the bullet hole was bad. Luckily the omni-gel had congealed the blood in the wound and stopped him from bleeding out. "It's as bad as I thought it would be then." She noticed Benny's reaction to the injury, nodding at his words. "I knew this mission was a terrible idea. No amount of credits are worth getting killed for. Make sure he survives long enough for me to punch him." It was usual for the Asari to use humor to distract herself from the seriousness of situations. As a woman in a universe that had seen Reaper Invasions, Aleria had watched a lot of her friends and family been butchered, so she tended to try and ignore serious situations.<br><br>"We've got one of the best hospitals in the Universe. Though it's going to be expensive." She punched some co-ordinates into her omni-tool and uploaded them to the ships navigation system. "I have to go and beat some information out of a woman."&nbsp; &nbsp;
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>15-03-2014, 03:17:08</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Benny shrugged when Aleria said that it was going to be expensive. "Well, Adam part of the cut from the deals when Adam splits the credits goes into a ship keeping fund," the medic said. Aleria probably already knew that, but Benny wasn't sure. He generally didn't talk to her. Or anyone, really. Benny liked to read when he wasn't working. Apparently a psychiatrist had told him to read as much as he could after he said that sinking a few hours a day into a novel helped him deal with the post traumatic stress that he had after the war against the Reapers. Normally, Benny was a really grim looking guy. The exceptions were when he was working, and when he was reading. Since most of the crew did a good job of avoiding injuries and wounds, that meant a lot of reading for Benny. Of course, he'd have to wait for a while to get back to whatever he'd had his nose stuck into. a couple members of the Albatross' crew made a makeshift stretcher and, under Benny's direction, shifted Adam onto it, carrying him off with Benny hobbling along. "By the way," he said, looking back to Aleria, and then the woman in the corner that he didn't recognize, assuming that Aleria meant her when she talked about beating information out of someone. "Before you wake her up to start beating her, you should open up her omni-tool. There might be something on there you can use," Benny said. With that, he hobbled out of the warehouse with the rest of the crew as they rushed to get Adam to a hospital.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IzabellaJ</strong> on <strong>24-03-2014, 07:31:59</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Aleria wasn't surprised that Adam had saved himself a nice little repair fund. She vowed that she would replace every credit personally, or at least take it from the accounts of their attackers. "Keep him alive as much as you can." She looked at her captain, pained that there was nothing she could really do right now. "Pump him so full of omni-gel his eyes bulge if you have to." The Asari had never really talked to a lot of the crew, she tried to keep a professional relationship with most...mostly because it was easier to deal with their loss.<br><br>As the Albatross crew started to carry the injured captain away Aleria nodded to Benny. Of course she would check the womans omni-tool. Though beating the information out of her would be much more fun and a lot more satisfying of her need to kill. She walked over to the unconscious sniper and uploaded all the data from the tool to her own. A faint blow glow shimmered around her as she started to grow angry, picking the woman up and dropping her roughly onto the floor of a storage area. "Bitch."&nbsp; &nbsp;
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Red Sand, Space and Debauchery (IzabellaJ &amp; Countdown0)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Countdown0</strong> on <strong>25-03-2014, 07:44:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The woman's eyes lulled open, though she didn't look particularly aware of her surroundings, at least that is, until the Asari standing over her addressed her a '<em>bitch</em>', quickly drawing her attention. "What the fuck do you want?" The woman asked, obviously not feeling particularly grateful to still be alive. The sniper rifle had been her only weapon, so with that gone, she was defenseless against this very angry looking Asari. She didn't have biotics, which left her at a severe disadvantage if things were to devolve into hand to hand combat, to say nothing of the fact that the Asari had guns. That, and the woman had suffered at least a couple of broken ribs, and probably worse, from the biotic slam that had knocked her out. She stared up angrily at the Asari, blood slowly leaking out of a nasty looking gash on her forehead. The impact of the slam had broken the skin, and like most bipedal creatures, human bleed a lot from the head. She looked like she had been on the wrong end of a mugging, but it was just that one measure of force used by the Asari to do this to her. That alone let her know that there was little to nothing she could do to fight back. But she could still be angry, and she was. She looked around and noticed that they were in the same warehouse, but it was empty of anyone apart from the two of them. "Where is your boyfriend's corpse?" She asked, spitting out a mouthful of sticky blood.<br>____<br><br>While Aleria was dealing with the woman in the warehouse, Benny and the rest of the Albatross' crew had gotten Adam to the hospital. Benny was one of the crew mates who had access to the account that the ship fund was kept in, so they quickly got him into surgery after getting there. The crew had been told that, based on the data given by his omni-tool, the Asari doctors would definitely be able to save Adam from dying, although he would need to take it easy for at least a couple of weeks while he recovered. It took a couple of hours, mostly because the Asari surgeons didn't want to leave anything to chance and made completely sure to close up every wound, but eventually Adam came out of surgery on a wheelchair. Archaic though it was, it was still a great way for someone who was recovering from near-death to be able to still get around without over straining himself. The nurse pushing him gave the crew instructions. "Remember, he can't have anything alcoholic to drink, and he can't be doing... well, whatever it was that got him shot in the first place. Keep him somewhere safe for a couple of weeks so that he can recover," she cautioned, turning and leaving Adam in the care of his crewmen.<br><br>Adam's eyes were lazily half open, still drugged from the operating table. He looked around, and found Benny. "Benny... how... how am I..." he tried to asked, still obviously not fully conscious and having a bit of a difficult time figuring out what was going on around him.<br><br>"Aleria saved you. Apparently whoever shot you was more interested in making a quick exit than taking out witnesses," Benny said.<br><br>"So... Aleria got out?" Adam asked, blinking several times very deliberately, trying to regain focus.<br><br>"She's fine. Well, mostly. She was pissed though," Benny said, laughing and nodding for a member of the crew to go ahead and push Adam. The safest place for him to be would be in his own cabin on the Albatross, so they would take him there. "I think she's interrogating one of the people who were in the warehouse. Maybe the one who shot you. She might even be at the ship when we get back," he added.<br><br>"That's... nice..." Adam said, slowly passing out again, clearly still out of it from the anesthetics.<br><br>Benny shook his head and laughed a little bit. The crew got Adam back to the Albatross and took him up to his quarters. Normally they would never have gone up there, but Adam was still unconscious, so a couple of crewmen went up, along with Benny to put him on his bed. Benny stayed behind for a second, drawing curious glances from the other two crewmen. He gestured to his omni-tool, and then his a few buttons. "Just turning a program on. If something goes wrong, his omni-tool will tell mine to beep," he said. After that Benny stood up and hobbled out of the room, leaving Adam alone to sleep off the effects of the anesthetic.
			</dd>
		</dl>
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