stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Jul 10, 2015 11:14:22 GMT
Arina raised an eyebrow at him over her burger. "Ha ha. No, there's various biotic things you can do to them. Or an old fashioned bullet between their eyes. Yeah, mostly we were cleaning up those that got astray in the woods. A lone abomination jumping a campsite full of refugees is a freakshow. But they didn't survive long on their own anyway for some reason, they seemed to be only worth something ion pack strength. But enough to be a hassle and keep everyone on their toes. Not that Niacal hasn't enough hostile wildlife on its own. We where going where the board of tourism said 'strictly no camping'. I wonder how many lone cannibals got eaten by Evocerutis or the like. And how they liked the taste actually." She munched a bit, seemingly gazing into nowhere. "How did you see the end out, have you been on Earth? It was a bit nasty at first when we realized the Relays in the quadrant were down but it took time to set up a preliminary civilized society again and we were surprised to suddenly find that the Relay was working again. There are worse planets to be on in that situation I guess."
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Jul 14, 2015 9:12:02 GMT
"Stay away from population centers, rule number two," Artyom remarked, mumbling the last bit as he took another bite of his sandwich, working it down to just a third. He tried his best to imagine what an Evocerutis might have looked like, but couldn't come up with anything since the name failed to evoke any imagery familiar to the human. Whatever it was it must have had quiet the stomach to enjoy eating the reaper twisted Batarians.
The human paused a moment, chewing and clearing his mouth as he thought about his answer. "Yeah, I was here on Earth when the war came to an end, almost wasn't" Artyom said simply, staring off distantly before snapping back to reality, "it was a bit of a shock to wait out that initial reconstruction period on Earth, got to see a lot of what had happened during the... occupation." He couldn't dare call what the Reapers were doing by it's true name; Harvesting. "Thankfully my family escaped the worst of it, the benefit of living in the rural expanses of Ural Mountain range, still I saw Moscow, helped a bit with the rebuilding there."
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Jul 16, 2015 17:39:38 GMT
“Good to hear that. All the rural areas fared much better, same with smaller colonies. Did you know that some of those see a major rise in importance and commerce? I’d buy stocks in Mesana mining council.” He probably knew about these things anyway but for some reason Arina didn’t think of him as that kind of boss who constantly was monitoring stock tables. Maybe it was the things he was watching now on these displays. She noticed that none in the bar showed stock infos.
“At least those that were big enough to make it through the first ear on their own came out bigger once the network was going back up.” She knew a few really small outpost which were only found abandoned, some had even tried to go FTL to other systems but had vanished. Was that an irony, surviving the Reaper onslaught completely untouched only to starve or die in deep space in the year after.
Her mind wandered to Ninmah and what she had seen there. A completely new civilization on the rise, unaffected by the Reapers – actually enabled by the whole events in the first place. She knew about the origins of the queen, information that was only available to the Council and the diplomatic mission to Ninmah. Maybe she should consider. Under the given circumstances…
She finished her burger, her mind travelling to the diplomatic “banquet” and the “buffet” on Kashaptu. She couldn’t help and a chuckle escaped her.
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Jul 20, 2015 20:05:23 GMT
"I'll keep that in mind," he replied with a muffled mouthful. He'd take the penultimate bite of his tenderloin, and stared longingly at the last bit of his meal before stuffing that into his mouth as well, puffing his cheeks out slightly. Lifting his mug, he took a long draw off his beer and soaked the mush to ease it's passing down his throat. Slowly he cleared his throat, listening to Arina continue on.
"Yeah, a lot of competition gone after the destruction of so many worlds," Artyom remarked, finally done with his sandwich. He idly scooped the small portion of fries, three to four at a time, over the puddle of ketchup that'd dropped from his sandwich, and shoved them into his mouth. The last fry found it's way into his mouth, signalling he was done with his meal.
"Well I guess that's enough waxing poetic, let's head back to the shuttle," Artyom added, pushing off the bar and dismounting his stool. He shoved the plate towards the service mech, and finished off the remainder of his beer, placing the glass down.
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Jul 23, 2015 14:32:04 GMT
Arina had also finished her burger. Under different circumstances she would have been more curious but right now the feeling of being abused was still a dominant one. He was right, she had to head back. Report in, asses damage to her property and the apartment, get a new place to stay…
“We should I suppose. I probably have a ton of messages on my omni.” Leaving it at her apartment was a actually something she would have to explain. “Thanks for helping me out, Artyom. It was good to sit here and come down a bit,” She said. Arina was convinced by now that it just had been a great coincidence that the human had been near the building at the right moment.
She slid from her stool to follow him back to the shuttle.
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Jul 27, 2015 22:58:58 GMT
"Least I can do, got you into this mess," he replied flatly as Arina scooted off her stool. There was a hint of regret in his voice though, a small one that hung off the end of his sentence. He tried to keep entanglements at a distance. Cold and calculated was his preferred approach to both business and, to his detriment, pleasure. Still the feeling of guilt was hard to escape.
"Here," Artyom spoke up midway through their silent walk, pulling out his datapad and sending a file to Arina, "safe houses I've got set up around the Citadel, a few I've set up personally that no one knows about, most through the Black Krokodils for my men, if you ever need a place to hide, hit up one of these, flash that file, and you'll have access. I'll have guys watching your back, but just in case." He left it at that as they continued
The hanger wasn't very far, signs directing them as they navigated the thinning crowd. The shuttle they took had been swapped out, exchanged for a totally different make and model with new identification indicators. A safety precaution in case their craft had been ID'ed during their departure. It wasn't nearly as fancy as the previous shuttle, an older Kodiak, but it'd do just fine. Hitting his hand against the side, he opened the shuttle up as it recognized his omni-tool. The human was in first, taking the pilot's crash couch.
"You're call if you want co-pilot's spot or in the troop hold," Artyom remarked as he worked the craft, plucking away at the holodisplays. The engines outside roared to life before being muffled as the side door closed shut.
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Jul 29, 2015 16:09:55 GMT
Did this man really feel sorry for putting her in this position? Arina was truly surprised art the addresses he gave her. That was serious information that could hurt his organization if it got into the wrong hands. She somehow felt sure he didn’t set her up with this, he seemed genuine. “Thanks”. She filed the data away.
So they had exchanged the vehicles. This operation was running very smoothly around Alliance HQ, she noted. It would make it easier for er as well to cover her tracks and sell her story about the private excursion and the forgotten Omnitool. “I don’t mind sitting in the front.” She said and took the seat.
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Aug 4, 2015 9:18:14 GMT
The view wasn't nearly as scenic as their previous ride, a civilian vessel that could afford structural weak points like windows. The Kodiak on the other hand was nothing but an armored box, and sometimes a flying coffin. There were no windows or weak points that could give out under heavy fire or shrapnel. Instead the pair were greeted with a panoramic view via holodisplays that let Arina and Artyom view a full three-hundred sixty degrees around the craft.
Artyom was fully concentrated on the screens in front of him as he lifted the craft off the ground, the engines humming picking up tempo as he willed the craft off the metal floor. His left hand moved away from the controls in front of him and to the side where the throttle rested, and gently pushed the knob forward. The vehicle drifted slowly at first but once it was clear from the hanger picked up speed fast. Moment by moment the station started to disappear, visible in on the rear view screens.
The Citadel was several hundred kilometers higher in orbit around the Earth, making their return trip just a bit longer than simply riding the gravity well down. "You do any flying," Artyom asked to break up the monotony of the silent cockpit, his gaze still focused heavily on the read outs before him and all the small blips on his sensor suite showing other space craft.
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Aug 7, 2015 13:32:06 GMT
The Kodiak had the certain military vehicle appeal, especially in the cockpit area. Most certainly the displays give a true feeling of windows, even more versatile with their many possibilities of overlays and HUDs. She thought back when she had been on that mission to Trategos. That shuttle did have a very nice arrangement of all round view display in its cockpit…. Her mind briefly wandered to the wreck and she was curious what had become of it. It would be interesting if she could find out if it ever had been salvaged or rebuilt even. Artyom’s question brought her back.
“Hm, no, not that much. There’s little need for it in my current life. Of course I have all the licenses and have done some flying in the past.”
“When I was on Sur’Kesh, we often made trips to moons and locations in the system, the Embassy had a shuttle fleet that we could use in our free time. But it really was just a means of transportation to be honest. What about you, do you fly much? I mean for fun and performance?”
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Aug 10, 2015 8:03:30 GMT
"A bit, when I can, personally prefer atmo-craft over shuttles though, something is just more cathartic about dipping and weaving through the air," Artyom replied with a chuckle, still keeping his focus on the displays in front of him. They were on a straight course back to the Citadel. Not much to do but keep his eyes on the displays and let his mind wander occasionally.
"You don't ever lose that thrill, from your first, real flight, like once you're in the air part of you never comes back down," he added a moment later. The screens were now filling up with proximity warnings, and hud icon's identifying vessels. Most were civilian craft lining for approach to the massive five armed station. There were a fair share of Alliance military vessels on patrol and stationed around the Citadel however. The closest craft to them was in fact a troop transport ship just a dozen meters shy of matching a frigate in length.
"I had no idea that being a shuttle pilot was up there next to rifle training on the VKO's list priority skills, but it gave me a new appreciation for riding dropships down into combat zones I'll say that," he remarked, his eyes drawn to the ship next to them, "of course that's nothing compared to the stress shuttling around dignitaries has to be I bet." He laughed and gave Arina a teasing look for a brief second.
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Aug 13, 2015 7:17:24 GMT
Arina smiled at his enthusiasm about the subject. It was something that fitted the man. "And I suppose you don't have a lot of problems dealing with no-fly zones and getting all kinds of permissions." With what he just shown her about his network, he probably wouldn't have to argue with some bureaucrat about whether he could fly in a civilian craft here or there.
"I would say, everyone should know how to operate basic flight assist VI today. Everyone who does go to space and does not now at least that is suicidal really. It's like not knowing how to dress a pressure suit, isn't it? If you're too lazy to learn about that, stay planetside."
"I din't do much shuttling for dignitaries really. On Sur'Kesh it was more an activity with colleagues." She replied to his last question. "However, I recently had the pleasure of being part of a crew that had to accompany a Matriarch to ... well, to accompany her in a special service shuttle. Of course that came with the professional pilot, I was merely there for protocol questions. Unfortunately we ran into an ambush set by a bunch of space pirates and... well, we had to crash-land and fight back to civilization. Nobody was seriously injured however. But that's shuttling dignitaries for you." She chuckled.
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Aug 17, 2015 2:15:08 GMT
Artyom let out a 'huh' as Arina explained her use for the shuttles wasn't for ferrying dignitaries, and recalled her encounter with pirates while escorting a Matriarch. The scenario was far more interesting, but his attention was too divided at the moment to warrant anything more than that. The troop transport was slowly edging their shuttle out of the space lane as it shifted on it's X axis. The Russian quickly brought the shuttle out of the space lane altogether, and gave the lumbering ship it's desired berth.
"I'm kind of surprised that pirates would target a Matriarch, I'd heard plenty of stories about Asari commandos on top of the briefings we occasionally would get on extraterrestrial military forces," he finally spoke up, "what system were you in, that sounds like something that'd happen in the Terminus systems, not Asari or Salarian controlled systems."
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Aug 18, 2015 14:21:22 GMT
The episode had made the news in an official version, shortned of course. She doubted Artyom would have followed the court rulings after it against the traitors. "Well, it was a scheme to provide classified intel to a pirate operation for money, there was a mole in the bureau of the Matriarch. Our little expedition was threatening their cover and so they decided we had to go and they tried to make it look like an accident or something. But the had underestimated us." she was shamelessly including herself although the two huntresses and the doctor had been doing much more. For example, losing her tent in the snowstorm had been a real embarrassment. But still, it had been all of them sticking together that had pulled it off. "The Matriarch had been taken hostage in the meantime but we manged to take them by surprise and get her out and take the leader of the traitors down. This blew their whole scheme and the Navy was able to take out several pirate bases from the intel they got from the arrested." She chuckled and leaned back. "Basically, it had already been a failed attempt on my life back then as well. Something that never happened in the centuries before. I think I've had enough of it now though."
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Aug 24, 2015 20:37:23 GMT
Artyom recalled a blurb in Arina's dossier about past experience with a hostage situation. It wasn't what he or the Good Doctor were interested in her for, and the bullet point contained litter direct information and a simple link to a extranet article about the incident. The details listed in the story were vague at best, leaving Arina's story as his first source to provide any useful information. He had to admit he was impressed with the Asari diplomat.
"Pirates," he muttered with a grunt that barely passed for a laugh, "I don't blame you, as a soldier you get used to it, the attempts on your life, the close calls, and near death experiences, but it leaves you scarred, always a bit more paranoid afterwards. I still won't go anywhere near a Geth if I don't have to, thank God they're all on Rannoch."
The sensor display had gone unmonitored once Artyom had put them on another trajectory, his focus idly on Arina's story. A split second before two icons on the display had converged, forming a blinking red triangle with the word "warning, collision" where the pair of craft once were. Proximity sensors blared, pulling the human's attention back to the holograms in front of him. Several objects were highlighted red as they raced towards the shuttle on an intercept course. The craft bucked and shook violently as the initial blastwave buffeted the vehicle.
Artyom kicked the VI's auto adjustment protocols off, allowing expanding gas push them away, turning the craft so it's thrusters faced towards the explosion and let the engines burn heavy. The quickly approaching bits of flying debris ticked off one by one, losing their red highlight once the VI was certain they were no longer on a collision course.
"Holy shit," Artyom muttered now that they were somewhat stable, only bumping into small gas clouds that caused minor turbulance for the craft. "The fuck was that, I.. I didn't see anything on the screen," he remarked, fighting the urge to turn his head around to look backwards, knowing how silly it'd look given they were in a metal box with no windows or canopy.
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Aug 28, 2015 14:52:06 GMT
Arina let out a shriek as she held onto her seat when the shuttle buffeted and the alas rang. “What is this, are we being shot at? I thought you said this craft is safe?”
At least the immediate danger seemed over now but she definitely wanted out of there. ”How far until we can dock on the Citadel?” She asked with a clearly uncomfortable tremble in her voice.
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