Forum is undergoing some back-end transfers and updates, please be patient if the forum is down or loading slowly!

Game Mass Effect: Eradication

Voidwalker

Active member
Streaming Partner
IC: Thalia T'Lara
Port Hanshan, Noveria

The others were quick to rush in at the sound of the gun fire, all seemed a little too eager for battle. As Thalia ran behind the large Krogan she noticed Knox flying through the air and taking the lead. Something doesn't seem right. Thalia lessened her pace to allow the others to pass. Let them get themselves killed. Why had the human been so prominent to be the first one there? From a slowed pace to a complete halt, Thalia stood and waited for Reezka to catch up.

From their point the two women could just barely see what was going on. It seemed as if Knox was holding a conversation with someone. An ERCS guard maybe? The growled words of Torv quickly disproved that theory. Even in a more quiet tone he was still loud. But she knew what she heard. A Geth! Knox was making a deal with a fucking Geth!

She shot a look at Reezka in disbelief. "This asshole recruited us to kill this Geth and now he's making friends with it? I don't like this babes." She tightened her grip on the rifle, keeping it at chest height just in case she needed to fire quickly. Her finger rests just outside the trigger.

Tag:
@Darth Kain, @Cardun Vrek, @corinthia, @Darth Sedicious
 

corinthia

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Immortalis
IC: Reezka
Noveria - Port Hanshan

"Shit, me neither," Reezka says as she crouches behind some cover next to Starlight. Peeking over the short wall, she sights down the ERCS pistol in her hands at the geth. Then, she moves her focus to the guy called Knox. Her helmet's visor zooms in automatically, bringing his form into focus, a reticle appearing on its glowing faceplate around her left eye.

"He's inviting the geth to join up!" Reezka hisses. A rush of emotions courses through her; with her heart still pounding in her ribcage and her suit VI still warning her about her adrenaline levels, it makes her feel a tad lightheaded. Maybe a little dizzy. Reezka had never cared much about geth... why should she give a shit about the failings of a people that failed her? Besides, they'd been tucked away beyond the Perseus Veil for so long that they had almost become a non-issue. Well, at least in Reezka's opinion.

She's not sure she wants to share anything at all with a geth right now; tracking her sights back to the geth, she tightens her grip on the pistol. Her first finger sure feels fuckin' twitchy on the trigger. All it would take is one bullet, placed... right... there...


 

Cardun Vrek

Legendary Member
Moderator
Jedi Council
IC: Veloc Torv
Port Hanshan, Noveria

“If you intend to convince him, Knox, I suggest you do it now before he starts acting like a feral beast.”
The Geth replies in response to Torv’s words.

Torv grunts, ready to unleash a wave of verbal insults when the Turian speaks first.

"Geth… do not… talk like that." Vard says. Torv stops for a moment as the Turian continues.
"Even the most sociable diplomatic platforms lacked the emotion you imply in your words."

What the hell?

"I have heard… of new models, ones capable of connecting more deeply with others emotionally in a bid for peace among peoples. Are you one of them?"


How does he know so much about Geth? Is this some kind of set up?!

Torv opens his mouth to speak once more when Knox cuts him off.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself. When’s the last time you heard of a Geth taking hostages? Even talking? The ones that attacked the port last year would rather self-destruct than risk capture. This one is actually negotiating.” Knox laughs and shakes his head. “Artificial intelligence is growing more intelligent, it seems. Besides, this Geth could be useful. Especially if it owes me a favor like it says.”

Owes *you* a favour. Right. What the hell have I gotten myself into? Ugh. I need a ryncol. Or to hit someone.

He looks around for the Quarian and the Asari, but decides they must have hung back, as he can’t see them. Maybe they bailed. That would sure help. If the Asari bailed, he could forget the whole…daughter thing. He grunts again. Knox turns back to the Geth.

“Let him go. You’re here for something, it looks like. Maybe I can help you find it. In return, well, I have a job that needs bodies, and I won’t discriminate on whether or not they’re carbon-based.” Knox says.

“You might not discriminate, Knox. But I sure as hell do. I’m not working with a Geth. They’re nothing but jumped up calculators who malfunctioned and think they’re alive. And how do you know it can be trusted? The Geth just tried to blow up the Citadel. As much as I hate those council bastards, at least they’re flesh and blood. I don’t trust anything that doesn’t bleed. It might shoot us in the back when it thinks the time is right.” Torv growls in response.

And besides, if anyone is going to blow up the Citadel it’s going to be us Krogan. Geth bastards tried to steal it from us.


TAG: @Darth Kain, @Darth Sedicious, @Hadzuska_The Jester, @corinthia, @Voidwalker
 

Darth Cold

Well-known member
Moderator
Dark Council
Addressing the Turian first, Genesis spoke. “Newer to you perhaps, but not amongst the Geth.

Then he responded to Knox, “I was not a part of that attack. It is unfortunate that it even happened. I don’t condone senseless slaughter and attempted genocide. That is more of a Quarian trait. Or even a Salarian trait when it comes to the proud Krogan race. Like I said, I don’t condone genocide, or senseless slaughter. Knowledge is power, and I seek knowledge to attain peace.

He unceremoniously dropped the Turian, raised his head up to show his “throat” as is done between Krogan as they spoke, and then addressed the Krogan, “You don’t trust me, I understand completely. But there is an old analogy that might help you. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. If you don’t trust me, feel free to watch me. But I can absolutely assure you, while I work for your boss here,” He motioned to Knox, “I don’t intend to hurt any of his people unless he gives the order. To be honest, I prefer not to fight. I’d rather leave that to someone better at it such as yourself. I’d rather research, as well as fix and upgrade things. Who knows, I might be able to figure out a cure for you, if given enough time.

@Darth Kain @Voidwalker @corinthia @Darth Sedicious @Cardun Vrek
 

Darth Kain

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Dark Council
Immortalis
GM Update
Combo with @Hadzuska_The Jester

IC: Cabal Knox
Port Hanshan, Noveria

The turian guard wheezes on the floor, crawling away from the madness that seems to be surrounding him. A trail of his blood follows, one that Knox notices as the Geth continues making its case to Torv. The human’s cybernetic eyes find Reeka and Thalia hanging much further back, the former with her pistol still trained on Genesis. Knox cracks a smirk.

“Reezka, come give this man some first aid,” he says. “Unless you’d rather keep aiming that thing at us.”

He then turns back to the Geth, crossing his arms. “You never did say what you were here for. More of my people will be swarming this lobby before long. Tell me what you want so we can get it and get out of here.”

The light on the Geth turned green for a moment as he registered the question. "Like I owe you a favor, I am in the midst of paying back a favor I owe someone else. I need to get to the port administrator's office and download some vital information for their mission, and then upload it to them." He paused for a moment. "Along with my resignation from his crew active immediately after he receives the information."

Knox nods. “No nasty viruses you intend to upload to her terminal in the meantime, right?”


“Not unless you ask nicely.”

The smirk widens into a smile. A robot making jokes. I’ve seen everything.

“Go on, then. The administrator isn’t in her office right now, so feel free to waltz in there and take care of business. We’ll wait for you here. Don’t take long.”

He then turns to the others, allowing Genesis to enter the administrator’s office unimpeded and waiting until the Geth is out of earshot. “You lot have concerns? Lay them on me.”

TAGS:
@corinthia , @Cardun Vrek , @Darth Sedicious , @Voidwalker
 

Darth Cold

Well-known member
Moderator
Dark Council
IC: Genesis Anomaly
Location: Port Hanshan, Noveria

Go on, then. The administrator isn’t in her office right now, so feel free to waltz in there and take care of business. We’ll wait for you here. Don’t take long.” Knox instructed.

Why did those words feel like a trap? The Administrator isn't in the office, but what about more guards? Genesis didn't waltz in like directed, instead he entered the room carefully, scanning it just to be sure it wasn't a trap, along with attempting to locate the console terminal he needed.

Tag: @Darth Kain @corinthia @Cardun Vrek @Darth Sedicious @Voidwalker
 

Cardun Vrek

Legendary Member
Moderator
Jedi Council
IC: Veloc Torv
Port Hanshan, Noveria

Torv stands and glares at the Geth as it lays out its case to him. He does not respond, but simply grunts in frustration. He shakes his head and turns away, finally placing the battle rifle in his hand back onto the magnetic clamp on his armour.

This whole day has been nothing but bullshit. I should never have even been here, damnit.

Exactly, he shouldn’t have been here. He had been lured here under false pretences, and all the other crap that had happened since he had arrived on this frozen lump of rock had distracted him- he glances at the Asari again and flinches a little- from that. Someone had lured him here, and apparently they had wanted him to meet the Turian. It stood to reason the Turian had been lured here as well. He glances over at Knox, now talking to the Geth, and it clicks.

It was very convenient that Knox just appeared at the hotel- a guy who clearly has a lot of credits and resources- saying that he had some sort of big job that he wanted done and wanted to hire people on to do it. Too convenient to be a coincidence, probably. Was Knox the one that tricked him into coming here?

Time to find out.

The Geth walks off into the administrator's office and Knox turns around to address the rest of them. “You lot have concerns? Lay them on me.” He says. Torv steps up close to Knox and stands over him, eyes narrowed at the human.

“Oh yeah, I got concerns. I’m concerned that I was tricked into coming to this dump, and I got a good idea who tricked me into coming here, human. So…cut the bullshit Knox. I want the truth, and if I don't get it, I'm walking. What’s this job you keep going on about, and why did you trick me into coming here?”
Torv growls.

TAG: @Darth Kain, @corinthia, @Darth Sedicious, @Hadzuska_The Jester, @Voidwalker
 

corinthia

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Immortalis
IC: Reezka
Port Hanshan - Noveria

Reezka’s golden eyes narrow to severe slits, trained on that ERCS suit, Knox. She doesn't recall ever introducing herself by name... "How the fuck do you know my name?" she hisses, moving her aim to the human. "And that I'm a fuckin' medic?"

She's half-tempted to just shoot the damn turian guard and put him out of his misery, but her years as a trauma nurse had given her an unfortunately difficult-to-resist reflex of needing to help, especially when there's that much blood on the floor. So, she keeps her borrowed pistol trained on the human while she moves to the turian. Absolutely everything about what was going on is ringing alarm bells in her mind (and not just her suit VI continuing to chirp warnings in her ears about her blood pressure and heartrate), telling her not to trust what's happening at all. But she needed to stay close to the krogan, see if she can squeeze any info out of him about Cerberus and her uncle...

Regretfully, she drops to a knee by the turian. "You're fucking lucky my boyfriend is turian and I keep turian med supplies on me," she snarls at him, pulling a tube of medigel out of the small bag strapped to her arm and squeezing some out onto the cowering turian's wounds. All the while she's keeping her gun trained on Knox, her helmet cocked just so, to keep an eye on him as he continues to speak to the geth. "There. You fucking happy, human?" she mutters.

Knox asks if they have concerns, and Reezka stands, putting both tridactyl hands on the pistol. "Yeah, I want you to answer my damn questions," she says.


 

Darth Sedicious

Member
Moderator
Dark Council
Jedi Council
IC: Stygian Vard
Location: Noveria, Port Hanshan



Stygian narrowed his pale, grey eyes, and thought ‘I know geth better than anyone you’ll ever meet, and if you really believe that then I know them better than even you. I’ll find out what you are in time.’

“... I may even be able to figure out a cure for you, if given enough time.”
It’s a clever move, using krogan desperation to ensure that conflict is quelled. Whether it meant it or not, Stygian knows—or at least so he thinks—what it really is doing. He isn’t stupid enough to really think a geth being out of human earshot means that it can’t hear him. He has concerns, quite a few. But he can’t say them now. Not when so many others, others very impatient, have so much to say.

“Yeah, I want you to answer my damn questions.” The words have not the slightest picosecond to actually reverberate through the air and reach Knox before the krogan Torv steps up to him before speaking, a classic albeit overused krogan tactic. But Stygian never gets tired of seeing it. They are quite the specimens.

“Oh yeah, I got concerns. I’m concerned that I was tricked into coming to this dump, and I got a good idea who tricked me into coming here, human. So… cut the bullshit Knox. I want the truth, and if I don't get it, I'm walking. What’s this job you keep going on about, and why did you trick me into coming here?”


‘Never meet your heroes,’ Stygian thinks. He had met plenty in his life, and found them all wanting. He had met men and women that had inspired him to change the galaxy for the better, to advance us all forward in utopian ideals. Utopia, however, in all languages, stems from a general single meaning: nonexistence. And these utopian ideas came from people, so called heroes, just as utopian as that.
There is nothing that separates these great “men and women” from the average person. Not hard work. Not will. Not kindness. Not hardy constitution. Not intelligence. Not even luck. Nothing.

All is mundane: people, the cosmos, life. But finding beauty in it regardless, and knowing that all you are to do is satisfy yourself, for seeing those you love in health satisfies you, is the solution to mental collapse.
Anything worth living for is worth dying for, and so can a reason to live be a reason to die. Such as when a man who lives his life for his daughter so too does that man hurl himself from the highest balcony of Omega when he finds his daughter shot to death in mercenary crossfire.

Never have a reason to live. Just live. Live because you are already alive, and that experience, terrible or wonderful—often both, is worth having if only because it is all you know, and may ever have.

It’s all Stygian ever says to himself on some days.

Tags: @Darth Kain @Voidwalker @Cardun Vrek @Hadzuska_The Jester @corinthia
 

Darth Kain

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Dark Council
Immortalis
GM Update

Administrator’s Office - Port Hanshan, Noveria

The Geth were renowned for having excellent scanning techniques, able to find lifeforms with the utmost ease. It was not praised, however. More so that this technology was considered horrifying for any poor organic that tried to hide from the so-called synthetic menace, only to be found and driven onto spikes. Genesis had not been guilty of that sin, but it had benefitted from its people’s abilities nonetheless.

Its scans found nothing between it and the computer terminal further into the office, which sat on a desk behind a large, clean desk. So clean that one wondered if the administrator had often been in this office, or perhaps the cleaning services here were impeccable. It mattered not, however. There were no other guards between Genesis and its target. All that was left was to hack into the computer, which could be done one of two ways.

One method was to try and brute force into the terminal with Genesis’ hacking module. It was risky, however, as the chance of failing to breach the software could result in the terminal locking down permanently.

The other option was to link into the terminal via a hardware link. It was just as risky, though in a different manner. Where going the software route could risk losing the data, the hardware route risked damage to the Geth’s body. It would certainly get the data with this second option, but the cost could prove deadly for one so single-minded as it.

TAG: @Hadzuska_theJester

____________________

IC: Cabal Knox
Port Hanshan, Noveria

His eyes scanned the Krogan and the Quarian, focusing more on the latter. He had known they were smart enough to find out what he had done here, but this had all been strange. This had not gone to plan. That was especially true now that he had a gun trained on him.

He didn’t bother to raise his hands or even acknowledge the fact that she was aiming at him, however. She’d simply refuse to drop her gun, and without the loyalty of anyone else here, the resulting firefight would likely end in Knox’s death. That was not going to happen today.

“I know your names and your backgrounds,” he said. “I know what you’re good at. What you’re not. And I know that each and every one of you are the best chance I have at saving a lot of people.” His eyes cast down at the wounded turian she had helped, the man’s grave wounds at the very least not bleeding anymore. If he made it to a medbay and got an IV in him, he’d make it through the night.

Knox leaned against the scorched half-wall, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and igniting it before taking a soft drag. Smoke billowed out of his nostrils.


ezgif-2-708965b030.jpg
“I knew that just asking each of you from the different planets you were on would have resulted in only maybe half of you actually showing up. It’s much easier to ignore a message on your private terminal than it is to ignore a man waving credits in your face. If I upset any of you by the way I went about this, then I apologize. As little as that may mean to you, I'm sincere when I say it. It’s not the way I would’ve wanted to do things, but there’s too much at stake here.”

He took a longer drag now, absentmindedly flicking ashes onto the ground.

“I’m from New Canton. A little human colony on the edge of the Terminus Systems. You all probably haven’t heard of it. But it got attacked by a band of slavers when I was a kid. Batarians,” an unintentional snarl came to his face when he mentioned them. “The usual tragedy struck, and I was left alone in my living room, my family dead around me, and a hole in my chest.” He pulled back his collar to reveal the scar that lay there. It was decades old, but deep. Pinker than the rest of his flesh, and shaped like a gunshot wound.

“The leader of that Batarian gang is the one that shot me. Val’Khan. And the Alliance never got them back for what they did. I’d joined up to try and exact my pound of flesh from those bastards, but I was wrapped up in enough red tape that I could’ve been mummified right then and there. The Alliance, like the rest of Council space, fears the Terminus Systems so much. They think one wrong step into that side of the galaxy and everyone will die. They just don’t want to spend the money it’d take to avenge all the innocent lives those bastards take from us all. And not just humans, but turians, asari, krogan, even quarians. None of us are safe from them because no one will go to bat for any of us. But I’m tired of living like that.”

His cigarette was halfway gone now.

“Val’Khan hasn’t stopped being the evil bastard that he is. Hell, it looks like he’s getting worse. A dozen different colonies have been hit by his people within the past year. The last one was only a few weeks ago. The Alliance won’t help those people, the Council won’t, and I don’t trust extremists like Cerberus to have the best interests of everyone at heart. That’s why I’m going to do something about it. And if I want to take these Batarians down, I need a crew. Not just any ramshackle crew I can find on the Citadel, no. I need the best. I need all of you.”

His eyes fell back towards the administrator’s office, which was hidden behind the wall he leaned on. He shook his head and sighed.

“One of the last members of this crew I’m putting together was supposed to be supplied by a Spectre named Decius. I give Decius some info from our dear administrator, and he gives me a brilliant hacker. I didn’t know the turian had a goddamn Geth, let alone one that seems separated from their network. But I’m not going to sit here and waste any more time wondering what the hell is going on. And I know you all just care about getting paid.”

He took the last drag off of his cigarette before crushing it beneath his blackened leather shoe.

“Excluding the Geth, each of you is getting a flat rate of half a million credits. Maybe more.”

 

Darth Cold

Well-known member
Moderator
Dark Council
IC: Genesis Anomaly
Location: Administrator’s Office, Noveria

The office was clean of organics, or anything of that matter. The Geth entered and crossed the room to the desk. He could brute force his way in, but he was no organic. He placed a hand on the terminal and wires from his exoskeleton attached and plugged him into the terminal.

Normally one would try to search for the file in question, Genesis however had other plans as he attempted to spread his code outward as a virus to sit and fester, growing to take over the whole network of Noveria quietly as well give him immediate access to the files required. If all went according to plan, he would not only have gained the files, but a foothold on this frozen world.

Tag: @Darth Kain
 

Cardun Vrek

Legendary Member
Moderator
Jedi Council
IC: Veloc Torv
Port Hanshan, Noveria


Torv listens to Knox’s explanation, his arms folded and his eyes glaring at the human, giving nothing away. The Quarian was even more pissed than he was, and was even holding a gun at Knox’s head as he spoke. Torv couldn’t help but be a little impressed at how nonchalantly Knox had reacted to a gun being pointed at his head. The human was mentally strong, it seemed, or just plain crazy.

Crazy enough to cut a deal with a fucking Geth…

Knox explains he *had* lured them all here, as Torv had figured out. He wanted to make sure they came and heard his offer. And then, Knox begins to tell his story. Torv grunts a little. He couldn’t stand Batarians. They were always bastards. Always thought they were better than everyone. Well, most of them. A few were…okay. But Torv had killed plenty of those four eyed freaks over the centuries. He even had a Batarian skull mounted on his wall at home. An idiot that had tried to enslave him once after a job. Instead of paying Torv his fee, the guy had tried to capture him to sell him on Khar’Shan. The end result was a Batarian slaver ship filled with dead Batarians. The would be slaves onboard had hailed Torv as their saviour, but Torv had told them to get lost.

If the Batarian slaver hadn’t tried to screw him over, he would’ve let them remain slaves. Wasn’t his problem. Unless Krogan had been involved, Torv didn’t care who the Batarians enslaved.

But Knox did. Val’Khan, Torv hadn’t heard the name, but he hadn’t exactly been keeping up with Batarian slavers. Knox wanted revenge, and to stop more colonies getting hit by Val’Khan and his slavers. He needed a crew to help him. Sounded simple enough to Torv, though he seemed a little unsure about accepting.

This sounds like a human problem. But he wants a bunch of non-humans to help him. Is his own species that pathetic he knows not to get a team of humans for the job? Or does he want disposable 'aliens'?

And then Knox explains how the Geth was involved. A Spectre had ‘supplied’ it.

Goddamn Spectres. Always messing everyone else around. Fucking Council asswipes.

Knox takes one last drag of his cigarette, and then finishes.

“Excluding the Geth, each of you is getting a flat rate of half a million credits. Maybe more.”

Torv’s eyes bulge. Half a million for knocking some Batarians skulls? Sounds good to him. Shouldn’t take that long. Hell, this could fund the rest of his poetry career. But…it sounded too good to be true.

“Half a million for killing a few Batarians? That’s a hell of a lot. Something you ain’t telling us? Or are you that desperate to get that four eyed fuckface?” Torv asks, still looking skeptical.

TAG: @Darth Kain, @corinthia, @Voidwalker, @Hadzuska_The Jester, @Darth Sedicious
 

Voidwalker

Active member
Streaming Partner
IC: Thalia T'Lara
Port Hanshan, Noveria

Thalia had hung back to provide Reezka cover fire just In case she needed it as she moved forward to help the Turian guard. So far so good, but that could always change in a matter of seconds. Reezka was smart to demand the answers out of Knox, and of course he answered. There's not much room to negotiate when you're staring down the barrel of a gun. Still something wasn't right. He was to calm, relaxed even. The only time he'd shown any sort of emotion was when he spoke of the Batarians. The fact that he lied to get all of them to show up was genius but still it angered Thalia.

Excluding the Geth, each of you is getting a flat rate of half a million credits. Maybe more.”

His words made Thalia's blood boil, her rage overrunning like water spilling over a dam.This son of a bitch! Was he serious? How fucking insulting could one piece of shit human be?

Thalia kept her rifle up and started marching straight towards the rest of the group. A look of hatred sat perfectly fitted across her face, as perfectly fitted as a Krogan head plate. "Are you shitting me?" She she lashes out at Knox, quickly regrouping and making her way past Reezka, bringing her gun up. The barrel of her rifle aimed mere inches and dead center of the human's forehead.

"You claim that you know us, that you know our skills and where we all came from. And yet you think your insult of half a million credits was enough to get you out of this? The disrespect in you damn humans. If you truly know us like you claim, then you know who I work for and the one rule. Don't FUCK with Aria. So you think you can buy my loyalty, fuck you. Now start talking about what's really going on here Knox. Else I'll put a round in your fucking head and anyone else if I have too."

Her finger rested on the trigger, just itching to pull it back and feel the sweet thrust of the recoil from the rifle. This is why Aria had taken Thalia and trained her, she knew the loyalty she held. At least, that's what Thalia liked to believe. Aria was the best parent she'd ever had, since her mother was her mother and her father parent didn't care to stick around long enough.

Tag: @Darth Kain, @Cardun Vrek, @corinthia, @Darth Sedicious
 

Darth Sedicious

Member
Moderator
Dark Council
Jedi Council
IC: Stygian Vard
Location: Port Hanshan, Noveria


Chagrin filled Stygian. He had heard the offer and neglected the obvious question:

"Something you ain't telling us?"

He was glad someone asked it. It should have been him. But he always found that staying quiet and doing less, mincing your words if you couldn't possibly say nothing, was always better than saying or doing more. He had seen great up-and-comers step onto landmines, both literally and verbally, all because of enthusiasm or a desire to prove oneself or just plain, stupid ignorance.

Mentally he was fooled too easily.

But staring out from the shadow of his hood, he looked the most discerning of them all. Knowing when to be silent and appear passive may be the greatest tool and weapon one can have. A tool of control, and a weapon of intimidation, and using both was as effortless as the great salarian grappling arts.

And when one must apply Force, one need not necessarily apply it brutishly, or obviously.

"You claim that you know us, that you know our skills and where we all came from. And yet you think your insult of half a million credits was enough to get you out of this?"
The disrespect in you damn humans. If you truly know us like you claim, then you know who I work for and the one rule. Don't FUCK with Aria. So you think you can buy my loyalty, fuck you. Now start talking about what's really going on here Knox. Else I'll put a round in your fucking head and anyone else if I have to."


Stygian may have never done anything but listen had Thalia not added those two words
"anyone else". Arrogance was personally insulting to Stygian, likely stemming from his experience with the haughty and blatantly psychopathic scientists of the quarians, such as the loathsome Daro'Xen, nowhere near as intelligent as she liked to make herself appear. Many times had he dreamt of crushing her throat with his talons. And like all ambitious young men, he would never stop chasing his dreams…


There were applications of biological dark matter manipulation, of biotics, that appeared to be simply magic amongst the galaxy. Among the subtlest, if not the subtlest, techniques was mental manipulation. It was not mental manipulation as one may view it in fantastical works, of magic-borne telepathy or through one's connection to some all-encompassing force or deity. It worked in actuality like true mind control: manipulation of the body.

The mind is not some outside ethereal thing, but a mere configuration of one's biology. And with dark energy applied just right, to smother this synapse and irritate this nerve, one could dominate the minds of others, or even with the super biotics of the asari like Matriarch Benezia, one a teacher of his, steal information from the minds of others.

Oh how far had he fallen. But there is only one direction from the lowest point, the bottom.

Up. And left or right or behind… or dig up the ground and go further down….

Well he *intended* to go *up*.

And practice makes progress, not perfection. He had laid off practice for some time, fearful of ruining anything else. But at this time, the sun and moon, rage and logic, aligned perfectly.

Maybe she was trying aggressive interrogation from a point of non-dominance. She is intelligent if so. And maybe it will work. But he couldn't let it descend into chaos if she wasn't.

He imagined a great calm sea, smothering a great inferno. And waved it into existence.

"You don't want to shoot him, and you won't."
He waved his hand in a horizontal crescent shape. An odd gesture, but few could know what mind trick he was trying to pull. Minute applications of dark matter to smother anger, and pacify the target.
"You want to talk this out in a calm manner with the rest of us, after we're done here."

He felt his mind connect to matter, affecting the matter of another. His soothing, growling voice, a byproduct of both turian biology and his disease, only augmented the trick, both vocal cords vibrating in unison to give his voice the power of more than one. It was something no other species could benefit from.

Only Knox, he believed, really knows what he just did. He was certainly smart enough.


Powers Used:
Dominate - 1 (pacifying Thalia)

GM's Note: Stygian rolls a 17 + 1 for a total of 18 on his usage of Dominate, achieving the desired effect.


Tags: @Darth Kain @Voidwalker @Cardun Vrek @Hadzuska_The Jester @corinthia
 
Last edited:

corinthia

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Immortalis
IC: Reezka
Port Hanshan - Noveria

Reezka's blood is boiling by now-- she even has a fleeting thought wondering why her suit VI isn't screaming about her body temperature. Does this piece of shit human really think himself so self-important that he'd believe this group of apparent ne'er-do-wells and freelancers would buy into his story for a barely half-decent payday? Reez could give less of a fuck about some human's sorry tale. She has her own shit to think about. Even as the krogan and Thalia outburst at the man, Reezka stands shock still with fire in her veins.

"You know what I think you should do?" She says, feeling her anger boil over inside her. It makes her limbs twitch, and she feels a manic laugh escape her, made to sound even more unhinged by the processor in her helmet. She moves to where Thalia stands with her gun trained in Knox's face, and trains her glowing, burning eyes on the human. Her brazenness is off-putting and her pistol dangles at her side, loosely held but not forgotten.

"I think you can take your bullshit sob story and shove it up your ass," she hisses. "You think you can get a handful of mercs to give a fuck about your sad little colonies? For a bundle of credits that small? Some of us have motives beyond what your stupid sleuthing can dig up. I know who I am and what I'm about. Think you can fight evil with evil?" Reezka cackles. "You're gonna have to pay us a lot more to make me care about this. Triple the reward and maybe I'll fuckin' think about it."

 

Darth Kain

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Dark Council
Immortalis
GM Update

Administrator’s Office - Port Hanshan, Noveria


ezgif-4-9a067cc60d.jpg

This had not gone according to plan.

Genesis’ consciousness traveled across roads of code and rivers of data, sailing along oceans of information. He’d reeled in what he intended to find, that was certain. It seemed that the administrator of the port - a woman named Isa - had been part of a trafficking ring that Decius was investigating for the Citadel. The cargo was namely men of various species, from humans to turians to even vorcha. The purpose wasn’t here, but the names of those who took part in this scheme certainly were.

But Genesis had run into a problem. He’d smacked flashlight-headfirst into a firewall, and his circuits fried. That consciousness returned to his physical form, wires snapping back into his exoskeleton. Pain was not necessarily something felt by the Geth, but alarm bells were ringing inside him all the same. He had suffered critical damage from this failed attempt at breaching Noveria’s subnet. Perhaps they had reinforced their cyberware after his people’s previous visit.

He would have to eventually run diagnostics and enact some repairs, but for now, he had gotten the information that Decius needed. The sick freaks here on Noveria had another Spectre to worry about, and this one wasn’t just going to start busting heads for a passport to the garage. No, this one was going to make arrests, maybe even shoot down the ones that tried to run. Genesis would probably want to see that, after scanning the details of these wannabe slavers. Now all that was left to do was to rejoin the others and get off this frozen rock.

Surely his failed hacking attempt had not alerted anyone, right?

TAG: Hadzuska

____________________

IC: Cabal Knox
Port Hanshan, Noveria


Now there were two guns pointed at him, one much closer than the other. There were accusations were thrown at him, demands for more credits, threats. Every fiber of his being wanted to simply tear Thalia and Reezka apart. Even his logical side was wanting blood now, thinking about offering Torv their shares just to rip them to shreds. That would have been an entertaining show.

But he had to be more than his pride. There was far too much on the line to throw this all away because they couldn’t see eye to eye now. They may have been attacking him now, but there was no greater defense than what he had: the truth.

“You’re loyal to Aria,” he said to Thalia, ignoring Reez at first. He could see a small change in Thalia’s eye, a softening. The small gesture from Stygian was enough for Cabal to put the pieces together, and he knew that pressing on the weakest of the two screaming at him would be his best bet at subduing both. “You say your loyalty can’t be bought. But it’s already been sold to me. Who do you think gave me all this information about you all? Some dark site on the extranet?”

He looked around at them all. “Aria T’Loak is the one that sourced you all to me, vouched for you, said you all were ‘rough around the edges’ but would put in the work when it counted. I’d believed her. And if you believe in her, I’d suggest you both quit waving your guns around.”

He had grown fully prepared to defend himself if this pair continued to make an issue of things. His hands were at his sides, just a flick away from unholstering his hand cannon. Sure, he’d eat a round or two. But he had a feeling they’d like his bullets a lot less than he’d like theirs. But he knew it wouldn’t come to that.

“I can meet you in the middle and double all your pay,” he added, looking now at the quarian. “A million credits is more than enough to change all your lives, and it’s far more than any of you have been paid on a job before. Aria told me that much, too.”

His eyes finally found Torv, who had surprisingly been the most reasonable of his detractors thus far. Stygian had been quiet as usual, no doubt the kind of turian that preferred to observe the chaos rather than add to it. But the Krogan didn’t even seem flustered by the pay, just by the job. Ever practical, he was.

“This isn’t a simple hit job. No one knows where these bastards are based or where their next target is. The colonies they’ve hit this year have been sporadic, spread across the galaxy in mismatched patterns, and they aren’t even targeting humans exclusively. The last colony they hit was a turian one only a few clusters away from the Citadel. And yet the Council isn’t investigating it yet, at least according Decius. Makes me wary of the whole thing.


“We need to find the common thread between all these colonies, then either track them down or bait them into coming to us. Either way, they need to be stopped. And I want it to be me that cracks open Val’Khan’s fucking skull.”


TAGS: @corinthia, @Voidwalker, @Cardun Vrek, @Darth Sedicious

OOC: Genesis rolls a 2 on his hardware hacking attempt, successfully retrieving the desired data as prefaced in the previous update, but suffering physical damage from encountering the system’s internal defenses. A d6 is rolled for damage, which rolls a 6. Genesis’ HP of 12 is reduced to 6. He then attempts to install his malware into the system, rolling a 7. It fails.
 

Darth Cold

Well-known member
Moderator
Dark Council
IC: Genesis Anomaly
Location: Administrator’s Office, Noveria

As the wires retreated back towards Genesis, the light that was normally white turned red for a second as he made an all too familiar sound to those on Noveria. Thankfully no one was in the room to hear it. Though it sounded like a buzzing roar, in reality it was a scream of pain and rage. He was not organic, but even he understood the concept of pain. His attempt had failed to spread the virus, and though he considered trying again, he knew he was too badly damaged for the attempt this time. Hopefully, this Knox had what he needed on their ship to repair himself. Quickly sending the information through his omnitool to Decius, Genesis informed him he would not be returning to help with Decius’s mission.

Once the data was sent, Genesis went out to meet the new crew, only to find guns drawn on Knox. Looked like Genesis might be repaying Knox sooner than expected. Staying within cover, he unshouldered his M-92 Mantis and took aim between the eyes of the Asari, waiting for them to attempt to attack.

Tag: @corinthia @Voidwalker @Cardun Vrek @Darth Sedicious @Darth Kain
 

Cardun Vrek

Legendary Member
Moderator
Jedi Council
IC: Veloc Torv
Port Hanshan, Noveria

Torv looks towards the Asari and the Quarian and shakes his head, sighing. He chuckles as Knox reveals it was Aria who gave him the intel on all of them. Because of course it was.

"Listen, girls, If you two want to make it off this frozen rock with your heads still attached to your bodies, cut the crap and put your guns away. Aria T'Loak is a ruthless, cold hearted bitch who doesn't give a fuck about anyone except herself. Everyone she's ever worked with ends up dead, or as her little pet. Just ask the 'Patriarch' in Afterlife." He growls. "And besides, if you kill this human and blow my chance at a million credits, then we're going to have a problem. And I like to solve my problems by cracking skulls open..." He cracks his knuckles, just to emphasise the point, glaring at them both and almost daring them to try something. Even if the Asari was his...daughter, a million credits was a million credits. He wouldn't kill her, obviously. But her little Quarian friend? Fair game as far as he was concerned.

He turns back to Knox.

"If they're hitting Turian colonies and the Hierarchy hasn't blown them all to pieces yet, that's not a good sign. But they're still Batarians. Batarians are idiots. Just look at those ones that tried to throw an asteroid into a human colony. Like that was ever gonna work. Best bet is to wait until they make a mistake and pounce on 'em. Or track down someone who knows this Val'Khan guy and make them talk." He suggests, still keeping the Quarian and Asari in his peripheral vision. "This spectre guy you mentioned, surely he has a lead. Those slippery bastards always know more than they let on." He asks, noticing the Geth taking position and aiming its own rifle at the Asari. Torv grunts in frustration.

That thing kills the Asari, and I'll be turning into scrap with my bare hands...

TAG: @Darth Kain, @Voidwalker, @Hadzuska_The Jester, @corinthia, @Darth Sedicious
 

corinthia

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Immortalis
IC: Reezka & Thalia
Port Hanshan - Noveria

Reezka and Thalia's eyes meet briefly, as they cast quick glances at each other, gazes alighting with a sudden flicker of electric understanding as Knox explains where he'd gotten his info: Aria. Should've seen that coming. Thalia sneers, curling her upper lip; she seems to have simmered down, though the mention of Aria raises her hackles. She folds her arms, gun still in hand, and leans back, fixing Knox with a contemptuous glare.

Now, Thalia is Aria's girl, loyal to a T, but Reez only plays that field when it suits her. She's a freelancer through and through, and a damn good one. Her reputation is what it is through sheer finesse of skill and will, and Reezka wouldn't call herself some small-time merc, no. She works hard for her pay. She supposes she should be flattered and grateful that Aria slipped this human her name, but something about this whole scenario is putting a bitter taste in Reezka's mouth. A million creds was a good payday, sure, but still...

"Don't insult me too much, human," Reezka says, glaring up at Knox again and ignoring the krogan for a moment (though she notes that accepting this job would put her right beside him, and she still needs to squeeze some information out of his thick crested skull...). "If you believe what Aria says about our abilities-- and she'd be right-- then you should know that skills pay the fuckin' bills. I'll give you that a million is fair. Me and Star are top-notch mercs, though. This shit is what we do. We oughta get proper treatment."

Thalia adds, with barely contained venom: "You better fucking treat us ladies right."

"So, fine. We're in for a million credits." Reezka flourishes her pistol with a spin and re-holsters it. "Krogan's probably got the right idea. Your Spectre probably has our lead." She puts her little hands on her hips, cocks her helmet to the left. Things are about to get real damn interesting.


 
Last edited:

Darth Kain

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Dark Council
Immortalis
GM Update - Combo with @Hadzuska_theJester and @Cardun Vrek

IC: Cabal Knox
Port Hanshan, Noveria

Despite the venom and vitriol spat at him, Knox could not help but smile once he realized that they were all - finally - on the same page. His hands moved away from his sides, and he no longer felt pressed against the wall. Those paying attention would notice how still his hands were. Most people would have shaken, even a little, after having a pair of guns trained on them. But not Knox it seemed. Perhaps he had grown used to it by this point in his life. Perhaps it was something else. But it didn’t matter, in the end.

“We can discuss our leads when we get to the ship,” he said.

Seeing things had calmed down for now, Genesis placed the sniper rifle on his back before leaving his cover and approaching. "I have what I came for," he declared to Knox.

The man turned towards the droid and nodded. “Good. So, how was it that you got into the port? Hide in a suitcase or something?”

"They thought I was a suitcase..."
he replied nonchalantly. "It happens more often than you think, to be honest."

Knox clapped those still hands together, still smiling. “Perfect. I would guess that we can’t be seen walking out of here with you as you are, so.” He motioned towards the Geth. “Would you mind?”


Genesis shook his head momentarily, and then began to compact himself until he looked just like when he first touched down on Noveria. Knox admired the act with nary a hint of reverence. Instead, it felt more like scientific curiosity, and perhaps even morbid curiosity. At first glance, even he would have mistaken him as someone’s luggage, albeit he’d find the design choice of it unique.

“Torv,” said Knox. “I’d say that case suits you more than me.” He had no doubts that carrying a compacted Geth would probably be better suited for the one with superhuman strength. The Krogan, though obviously displeased, did as he was asked. He picked it up by its makeshift handle, holding it out and away from him like a human holding a dirty diaper. Knox only hoped, for Torv’s sake, that the handle wasn’t Genesis’ version of genitalia.

All that was left was to deal with the last surviving guard, who had passed out shortly after Reezka’s work at healing him. He was still breathing, barely. But Knox had half a mind to stop that breathing entirely. After all, the turian had been witness to Knox murdering his fellow guard. Even paying the turian off put him at risk if the fool decided to grow a conscience.

Unless…

“Stygian, our friend over there has seen a bit too much, I think. Mind doing us a favor and… convincing him not to spill the beans?” Knox paused for a second, realizing that the idiom may have been lost on them. “Er, you know, to not relay this information to anyone.”


____________________


After another gruesome elevator ride that played the same news story as before, Knox paged the ERCS in charge of the port, Captain Matsuo. “Don’t worry, Captain. I did your job for you. The Geth is neutralized.”


A woman’s voice emitted from his omnitool. “What? How did you--”

“Completely vaporized. It’d killed a few guards and gotten onto the administrator’s terminal, though, so check for any viruses.”

“Damnit. This never should have happened.”

“You’d think your people would have gotten good at detecting Geth by now. Anyway, I’ll be taking my reward to go. I have business off-world and there’s no need for this lockdown anymore.”

There was a certain grit in her voice now. “Of course, sir. I will be sure to have the maglocks removed immediately.”

“Thank you, dear. See you next time.”


A passing through glass doors sent the group out into the freezing cold of Noveria’s winds, only partially shielded by the walls that surrounded the dock. It was a bone-chilling freeze, one that even Knox couldn’t ignore. He shivered as they traveled along the dock, eventually reaching his beauty of a ship.

The Persephone was a scout ship that looked more like a luxury yacht. Its white paint and clean finish made it almost look like a ghost enveloped in the howling winds and snow of this world. It didn’t look built for combat in the slightest, which could be expected from the ship of a civilian - even a rich one. But looks could be deceiving.

ThePersephone.jpg

The boarding ramp descended, inviting the crew to get out of the cold.

TAGS: @corinthia, @Voidwalker, @Darth Sedicious
 

The Eternal Sith Empire Forums

The Eternal Sith Empire Forums is a new home for one of the largest online Sith roleplaying and fan communities on the internet. We welcome you to join us in discussing lore, socializing, sharing fanart and fanfiction, roleplaying in our vast number of RPGs, and more.

ESE on Facebook

  • The Final Sith Order
  • Help and Resources

  • FAQ
  • Rules
  • TOS
  • Members online

    No members online now.
    Top Bottom