Mass Effect: Going Dark

[General Havoc]

At the insinuation of a hidden motive, most organics would have gotten angry, or vehimately protested that they wished only to serve the galaxy as the best of the best. Shaddai was not most organics. Shaddai was not any organics.

"Shepard-Commander," said the protoform, "we are all that remains of the Loyalist Geth conclave. We have no representation politically within any greater galactic civilization agency. Our existence is officially denied by all concerned parties. We do not understand the reasons for this state of affairs. The Creators do not recognize us. They will not accept our petition to be allowed to return home. We have been unable, despite great efforts, to ascertain what actions were taken by our conclave to merit this refusal."

The Geth paused a moment before continuing. "Should this protoform be accepted as a member in good standing of the Council Special Tactics and Reconnaissance unit, it is our hope and expectation that our existence will be made more acceptable to the creators, and that it may palliate the negative factors mitigating against our recognition. Spectres are respected by the galaxy as a whole, including the Creators. The Rachni suggested to us that this fact may weigh in our favor in the counsels of the Creators when next they are petitioned to accept our existence as recognized historical fact, and to permit us to return to Rannoch. It is for this purpose that we have requested permission to join the Council Special Tactics and Reconnaissance unit."

Another hesitation, and this time the voice that followed had a hint of uncertainty to it.

"We... do not know what else to do."

[Sabre72]

About half way through the going away party Junko’s omni tool beeped with a message to meet at shuttle bay for transport to Mindoir. She hugged the students that where asking for hugs, shared some thoughts with the students and made sure she said that she’ll write back to them and left to get in her aircar wearing her armor with the N7 logo, pistol, a small sheathed sword that was attached to her back hip plate, a duffel bag attached to her back and long sheathed sword slung over her soldier via its strap.

Once in the aircar she waved goodbye to her students and headed to the shuttle bay.

It was a short trip to the shuttle bay from where she was, and once Junko Mori arrived, she saw a shuttle, painted with a red and black logo on the side, with a single turian figure standing next to it in standard turian military armor. He nodded as she approached. "You must be Ms. Mori - we're waiting for one other passenger, and then we can depart."

Upon seeing and hearing the turian, Junko was confused as how to address one as she doesn't really know much about them, other then fighting one. Defeated, she just defaulted to a simple, "Very well," then asked, "Shall I load my items aboard while we wait?"

With her friendly attitude, she than added, "And you would be?" with a cheerful smirk on her face.

[rhoenix]

The Geth paused a moment before continuing. "Should this protoform be accepted as a member in good standing of the Council Special Tactics and Reconnaissance unit, it is our hope and expectation that our existence will be made more acceptable to the creators, and that it may palliate the negative factors mitigating against our recognition. Spectres are respected by the galaxy as a whole, including the Creators. The Rachni suggested to us that this fact may weigh in our favor in the counsels of the Creators when next they are petitioned to accept our existence as recognized historical fact, and to permit us to return to Rannoch. It is for this purpose that we have requested permission to join the Council Special Tactics and Reconnaissance unit."

Another hesitation, and this time the voice that followed had a hint of uncertainty to it.

"We... do not know what else to do."

After a few moments of silence, Shepard nodded, still looking Shaddai in his optic. "I can understand that," she said. "Sometimes, the only real choice you have is to take a leap of faith and hope for the best."

After another moment, she nodded once more. "I'll meet you in the starboard meeting room in a short time - in the meantime, I want your word that even if you don't get along with the mainline geth in general, or Many-As-One in specific, I want you to work together regardless. If you have issues with following this, see myself or another Spectre."

[rhoenix]

Junko upon seeing and hearing from the turian was confused as how to address this turian since she doesn't really know much about them, however she just defaulted to a simple "Very well" then asked "Shall I load my items aboard while we wait?" and her being friendly then added "and you would be?" while smiling at the turian

The turian blinked at being addressed. "Uh, my name's Padrian - Lieutenant Kourvos Padrian. I was directed by my ship's captain to take you both to your destination. Just pack your bags in the back compartment," he said.

[Sabre72]

Junko upon seeing and hearing from the turian was confused as how to address this turian since she doesn't really know much about them, however she just defaulted to a simple "Very well" then asked "Shall I load my items aboard while we wait?" and her being friendly then added "and you would be?" while smiling at the turian

The turian blinked at being addressed. "Uh, my name's Padrian - Lieutenant Kourvos Padrian. I was directed by my ship's captain to take you both to your destination. Just pack your bags in the back compartment," he said.

With a smile, "No need to be shocked Padrian we are of the same rank" She then offers a hand shake.

[White Haven]

Massive physical trauma always leaves its mark. Long inactivity during periods of reconstructive surgery don't help matters. Even if Iona hadn't been tapped for the Spectre trials, she would have been pushing herself hard to get back to prime shape. That being the case just gave her a bit more motivation. All of that contributed to explaining why she was streaking through the dense urban jungle of Illium, at night, at high speed. The padded soles of her boots whispered quietly across the smooth concrete as she sprinted along a retaining wall. To the relatively sparse foot traffic meandering about, she was a ghost, a flicker of blurred light out of the corner of an eye, a hasty scuffed footstep, a sudden breezy gust, and then nothing. Smooth, even, deep breaths rushed in and out of her lungs as she rushed forwards, rapidly running out of space before a T intersection with a tall wall. Too tall to jump.

A powerful stroke of her legs sent her sailing into the air, pushing off the concrete in a new direction. She catapulted into the air at an angle, towards the impassive face of the district wall that ran parallel to the low ledge she'd been running across. The wall that was a good twenty feet away. All of a sudden she was visible, not as a slim, muscular figure in dark grey, red-trimmed light armour, but as a halo of blue light wreathing an otherwise ethereal, nigh-invisible figure in mid-air just over head-height. Voices rose in consternation from beneath and behind her as the pedestrians who'd been largely unaware of her presence were suddenly presented with it in no uncertain terms as the sudden gleaming silhouette lengthened into a streak that carried Iona across and upwards, spanning the gap between ledge and wall. Her body twisted in midair, rolling and stretching so that when she came into contact with the district wall it was in a crouch with both feet and one hand in contact.

She pushed off before she could start to fall, preserving as much momentum as possible and arcing just up on top of the wall she'd been running towards earlier. Once atop it, she straightened up from a crouch and, impulsively, disengaged her stealth field. With a grin, she waved down at the nocturnal faces staring up at her, then stepped off the far side of the wall and slid down the sloped surface, disappearing from view. Once at the bottom, she leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily and shaking her head with a rueful smile and a murmur, "Still a bit slow..."

At about that moment, the omnitool built into one armored glove buzzed silently to indicate a message. She moved her hands through a memorized pattern rather than bringing up a visual aid like most omnitools where designed to do; she left that function deactivated the vast majority of the time, preferring to avoid the 'oh shoot me now' yellow glare of an active omnitool's normal holographic projection. With a wiggle of her fingers, she called up the display this time, though; it's hard to read a text message without a monitor.

"Mmmh...so much for a ride in style," was her only comment to herself as she sent a signal to request a taxi pickup. She'd need a shower, if nothing else, and time was short before the scheduled pickup.
______________

Light combat armour doesn't take up much space, and neither do light weapons; where a soldier might bring a huge rolling case for an assault hardsuit, Iona arrived at the shuttlepad with only two pieces of luggage, one in each hand. Both were hard-shelled suitcases, both were security-locked, one had black-and-red hazard stripes along the seam. Her skin still slightly damp from a hurried shower, Iona herself was clad in a blue-and-grey dress; like most of her wardrobe it was modified for easy mobility and equipped with a concealed shield network. She wasn't openly armed, and the snug-fitted dress made it impossible that she was heavily armed, whatever she might have concealed beneath it.

The spaceport was never idle, not in a busy port like Illium's capitol, but things definitely slowed down at night; the waiting shuttle stood out on the tarmac as the only craft of that size not locked up tight and unpowered. She crossed over to it purposefully, noting the human and turian standing in front of the open hatch and nodding once it was clear that they'd noticed her in turn.

"Iona T'shen," she said simply, setting down both cases for a moment to produce an identification card. Most people would have produced the Asari equivalent of a driver's license; the header on Iona's read 'Asari Republics Armed Forces.' "I believe you were waiting for me. Any further passengers?"

[rhoenix]

With a smile "No need to be Shocked Padrian we are of the same rank" junko then offers a hand shake

"Iona T'shen," she said simply, setting down both cases for a moment to produce an identification card. Most people would have produced the Asari equivalent of a driver's license; the header on Iona's read 'Asari Republics Armed Forces.' "I believe you were waiting for me. Any further passengers?"

The turian nodded to Iona as she arrived. "Welcome - you are punctual. Both of you are here, so please pack your bags in the back of the shuttle, and we can depart. If all goes well, we should make it to our destination shortly before the Normandy will."

[White Haven]

Iona gave a brief snort at the mention of the timetable, a wry smile twisting her lips as she hefted the two cases up and slid them into the small cargo space. As she ran a few straps over them to secure them, she commented, "Touch of irony, and I suppose it makes up for missing out of the grand entrance." She straightened up and stepped back, gesturing for the human to go ahead and load up before stepping up over the threshold to the shuttle's small passenger compartment and settling onto one of the benches.

[rhoenix]

Nodding to both women, the turian secured the latch for the storage compartment, got into the shuttle, and began prepping for departure. "Alright ladies, this should be a short trip, but I have refreshments for both of you in the back. We should be arriving within 24 hours."

[Sabre72]

Iona gave a brief snort at the mention of the timetable, a wry smile twisting her lips as she hefted the two cases up and slid them into the small cargo space. As she ran a few straps over them to secure them, she commented, "Touch of irony, and I suppose it makes up for missing out of the grand entrance." She straightened up and stepped back, gesturing for the human to go ahead and load up before stepping up over the threshold to the shuttle's small passenger compartment and settling onto one of the benches.

Looking at Iona, Junko nods and smiles, then proceeds to load her baggage aboard the shuttle.

Nodding to both women, the turian secured the latch for the storage compartment, got into the shuttle, and began prepping for departure. "Alright ladies, this should be a short trip, but I have refreshments for both of you in the back. We should be arriving within 24 hours."

[rhoenix]

After a few more moments of silence, Shepard comm'ed the guards to send in the last of the candidates - Gabriel Cipriani, who was bringing his little sister along. She stood motionless, waiting for him to arrive.

[White Haven]

Some time after Iona's shuttle had already launched, an asari matriarch awoke and noticed a blinking message light on her private communications console. Loosely wrapped in a robe, she put off her morning shower, walking over and moving a finger over the playback icon.

A hologram of Iona's head shimmered into existence over the console and began speaking immediately, "Hello Aethyta, or I should say goodbye. I'll be offworld by the time you get this in all likelihood; my travel arrangements changed suddenly. I'm sorry I wasn't around to say goodbye in person. It was good seeing you again, very good. If all goes well...well, if all goes well, I'm sure I'll be visiting sooner or later. If nothing else, Ilium is a polished cesspool. Odds are I'll be here at some point on the trail of some horrible miscreant with a formal dress and a secretary. Who knows, I might even luck into it being my mother. Be well, Aethyta."

With that, the message ended and the hologram winked out. Aethyta's finger brushed across the controls once more, saving the message to permanent storage.

[rhoenix]

With that, the shuttle rose from the landing pad, and quickly made orbit. From there, it was a simple matter for the pilot to gain clearance to break orbit from Ilium, and head to the relay. The trip was now underway, and would end with their arrival on Mindoir, and the beginning of the Spectre candidate trials.

[Soleimon Berserker]

Sitting silently in the starboard observation deck, Sol'Amon stared out the window at the mix of dockworkers and station engineers, many of them Quarians like himself, but with lives so much different. Flicking his golden eyes to a group working to fix a small terminal over by the docking bay doors, their silent forms gesturing toward each other before pointing to the terminal, it was almost funny to watch.

Sighing under his breath, the Quarian biotic's hand tightened on the railing he'd been idly holding onto, a light mist of purple-blue biotic energy coalesced off his body as he glanced down at his omni-tool. The message from the Admiralty Board and his parents still sat unread in his inbox, silently pleading, yet demanding to be opened. Nevertheless Sol growled under his breath before closing out his mail, deactivating his omnitool, and moving back to take a seat on one of the benches to once again look out the window at the silent show of life on Bastion's docks once more.

He'd been pleasantly surprised that he'd been assigned the starboard observation room as a berth, though he'd quickly thanked the ancestors for his luck. When he'd first walked in he'd taken in the four bunks projected from the walls and grinned, serving with Krogan, Batarian, Turian, Salarian, Human, and Asari mercs during the Reaper wars and not once had he worked with Geth or Rachni.

'Needless to say that so far this was going to be an interesting couple of trials.'

Realizing the meeting was liable to begin soon, Sol'Amon glanced over at his bag sitting on the bed and realized it was probably foolish to worry about his things going missing aboard a Spectre vessel. If Shepard had as much of an effect on others as she did on him then it wouldn't be likely that anyone would be stupid enough to actually do something as stupid as stealing on this ship.

Traversing the halls of the ship, and after receiving directions only once, the Vanguard finally reached the Starboard Conference room, it was actually directly upstairs from his own quarters. Taking a seat at one of the comfortable chair a ways away from the head of the table, which was more than likely Shepard's eventual destination, the Quarian glanced around the room before bringing up an omni-tool game to pass the time.

'Ugh....Minesweeper is hard...thank the ancestors that the Reapers didn't use mines or I might not have survived the war if this is any clue.'

[JD196]

After dropping his bags off in his room near engineering Tallos walked into the starboard conference room and sat opposite Sol'Amon.
"So quarian, you made quite a name for yourself back on omega. Not a week went by without hearing some stories about the biotic quarian assassin. Of cause some of those stories were likely outright fabrications."

[Soleimon Berserker]

"Well...depends on what you heard..."

Though he still retained his Quarian accent, the tilt of Sol's head as well as the set of his shoulders unconsciously slid into a more Krogan centric way of speaking, just a bit of something he'd learned while working with his Krogan crewmates. Shrugging his shoulders slightly, the biotic leaned back in his chair before speaking, his omnitool game forgotten he allowed the orange holographic display to fall into sleep mode.

"If by stories you mean the whole, 'The dread Quarian who walked into Gatatog Kruug's Blood Pack HQ and left it with no one alive'? Or the one where 'I used a Turian's own spurs to geld him'? Or even the little gem of a story about how 'I killed an entire ship of Batarians using my bare hands'? Cause in all seriousness, fighting three Krogan in CQC is tough, taking on an entire building of em? Not very smart."

His hidden grin behind his envirosuit helmet had slowly grown a bit feral as he spoke, but you could tell he was trying not to laugh. Back on Omega he did hear a few of the stories being told about him, some were true, others were greatly exaggerated. But building himself a legend had definitely helped stop non-Krogan targets from fighting, the Krogan kind of just wanted to test themselves against him, see just how good the black and green cough drop was.

"Cause Kruug? Killed him one on one then moved his body into his office. The other two are true though."

[JD196]

"Not bad kid. Using a Turians spurs to geld him however... Some Krogans would consider that poetic justice, I find it a little excessive. Don't get me wrong I love a fight as much as the next Krogan, but deliberately maiming is a pretty hard thing to ignore." The krogan shifted uncomfortably. "So if you lived on omega and weren't part of the fleet then who nominated you for spectrehood.

[Marcao]

Gemini Sigma Cluster, Menvra System
Bastion Station, Docks

There was little for him to do but wait as the others were gathered, greeted and allowed to move deeper within. His eyes closely watched the other individuals seeking to as much information as possible from their mannerisms, posture and a host of other nuances that were generally unique to certain types of individuals. By the time that his time had arrived, he had to admit that he generally liked what he saw. The Spectres had always been selective and he certainly liked what he had seen and heard since his arrival. At his side, Helena remained very quiet. She lacked his experience and much of what was transpiring around her was beyond her experience. Nonetheless, the manner in which she patiently waited at his side made pride bloom in his stomach.

When it was his turn to approach he did so with a familiar grace. He felt calm, until his eyes settled on Shepard. She was a unique individual, a living legend unlike any since the stories of old Earth. He had seen Shepard before, he was familiar with most of her accomplishments but a part of him still felt a pang of awe. Was it not appropriate to feel awe towards a woman that had saved the galaxy from the Reaper threat on two separate occasions? He stopped well short of her and saluted. His sister at his side hesitated for a moment before saluting as well.

"Commander Shepard, it is an honor to have an opportunity to follow in your footsteps." He said softly. His eyes made it clear that he had no questions at this time. He had been selected to attempt to become a Spectre. He had every intention of doing so.

Gemini Sigma Cluster, Menvra System

When the shuttle launched he made certain that his sister was seated securely at his side and leaned back against the seat beneath him. His left hand reached out, gently guiding a few strands of his sister's hair behind her left earlobe before he offered a reassuring smile.

"All we do now is wait." He said gently.

"Will I like Mindoir?"

"We won't know until we get there. I hope that you will. We may be there for some time."

[General Havoc]

Anyone else, organic or not, might have answered by giving their word instantly, whether they meant it or not. Shaddai did not. Instead its eye-lens focused and unfocused several times, the flaps around its head clicking open and shut.

"Geth are functionally immortal," said Shaddai. "The same programs which attempted to defend the Creators in the Morning War are still present within this protoform. And the same programs which waged deicide against the Creators and us their creations, are still present within the protoform called Many-As-One. It is not a matter of irrational hatreds vested from one generation of Organics to the next. Our assailants remain alive and unpunished. Instead, they have been rewarded for their efforts to exterminate us."

Nothing changed within Shaddai's voice, no shift in timbre from the calm, emotionless voice of all Geth ever encountered. Yet the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

"There will come a time when we will demand justice for this," said Shaddai.

And as quickly as it had come, the moment passed, and Shaddai remained as he ever had.

"We will... attempt to table our differences with Many-As-One," said the Geth. "Our objective is the recognition of the Creators and the Galaxy as a whole, not the continuation of our war with the Violators. If you require it, Shepard-Commander, then we will proceed towards this objective in conformation with your request."

Carefully, Shaddai turned to leave, and move towards the location that Shepard had indicated, but at the doorway it stopped, and ventured one more comment.

"As we said," said Shaddai, "Geth are immortal. Our assailants will still be waiting when we are finally in a position to punish them."

*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

The doors to the starboard conference room opened, and a Geth walked in, only to stop less than a step beyond the doorway.

Shaddai had very little in the way of necessary equipment. Weapons, tools, and the like aside, Geth required neither personal items nor food nor any of the other trappings that Organic beings did. As such, it had taken next-to-no time to "stow" Shaddai's equipment and move to the Observation deck, as requested. Upon entering though, Shaddai saw that others were also waiting here. One was the Krogan, the other the Creator.

No points awarded for guessing which one Shaddai had frozen upon seeing.

Shaddai didn't say anything, it just stood there, once more paralyzed as the component programs within it tried to figure out what to do now. After some seconds of debate, it finally stepped fully into the room, by way of an explanation offering something that it probably didn't recognize as obvious.

"We... were asked to come to this location aboard the ship," said Shaddai. "Please excuse the intrusion."

[rhoenix]

When it was his turn to approach he did so with a familiar grace. He felt calm, until his eyes settled on Shepard. She was a unique individual, a living legend unlike any since the stories of old Earth. He had seen Shepard before, he was familiar with most of her accomplishments but a part of him still felt a pang of awe. Was it not appropriate to feel awe towards a woman that had saved the galaxy from the Reaper threat on two separate occasions? He stopped well short of her and saluted. His sister at his side hesitated for a moment before saluting as well.

"Commander Shepard, it is an honor to have an opportunity to follow in your footsteps." He said softly. His eyes made it clear that he had no questions at this time. He had been selected to attempt to become a Spectre. He had every intention of doing so.

Shepard looked back into Gabriel Cipriani's eyes for a few silent moments, before nodding slightly. "If you are selected, Cipriani, it is my hope that you had an easier time of it at first than I," she replied. Seeming to shake herself slightly, her normal visage of the implacable soldier had returned. "Your bunk location for yourself and your sister have been forwarded to your omnitool, and we will have a meeting in the starboard conference room within thirty minutes."

With that, she gave him a single nod.

[frigidmagi]

Cpl Lysander laid his duffel bag on his assigned bunk and give a small sigh. He was likely the only enlisted here, the list had alot of Lts and such on it. Having put up his gear he headed for the room, Marines are always early.

[rhoenix]

The doors to the starboard conference room opened, and a Geth walked in, only to stop less than a step beyond the doorway.

Shaddai had very little in the way of necessary equipment. Weapons, tools, and the like aside, Geth required neither personal items nor food nor any of the other trappings that Organic beings did. As such, it had taken next-to-no time to "stow" Shaddai's equipment and move to the Observation deck, as requested. Upon entering though, Shaddai saw that others were also waiting here. One was the Krogan, the other the Creator.

No points awarded for guessing which one Shaddai had frozen upon seeing.

Shaddai didn't say anything, it just stood there, once more paralyzed as the component programs within it tried to figure out what to do now. After some seconds of debate, it finally stepped fully into the room, by way of an explanation offering something that it probably didn't recognize as obvious.

"We... were asked to come to this location aboard the ship," said Shaddai. "Please excuse the intrusion."

A few moments later, a tall, slender turian walked into the starboard observatory, moving silently past Shaddai as he entered the room. He wore a standard B-Sec uniform, and moved to a side of the room, leaning against the wall, preferring to silently observe the others in the room for the time being.

Not a minute later, others in the room heard a soft rustling from behind Shaddai as the rachni brood warrior approached and and entered the room, looking at the others with interest. "Greetings-songs," the rachni's mental voice gently carried to the non-geth as it moved lightly into the room, his nimbleness of movement belying his size.

[Cynical Cat]

Mikhail stashed his duffel bag and looked around. Not much to his bunk, but that's the way it had always been. He had seen pictures and vids of lavishly furnished rooms filled with memorials of life and family, but that had never been his life. He set up a small holo of the Arc de Triomphe by his bunk and then headed for the conference room.

[Soleimon Berserker]

Nodding a polite greeting to the entering Rachni, Sol'Amon turned his attention back to Shaddai and his new Krogan conversation partner, his body language perfectly relaxed while leaning back in his seat, golden eyes half lidded. He'd done a lot worse to some marks that gelding them, sometimes Aria had wanted someone made an example of, being told to keep someone alive but not to cross her ever again was the worst thing he'd ever hear. But feeling sorry for his mark he'd still carry out the order to every detail, best to have something happen to them instead of himself and the one he cared about.

"Oh I dunno, when said Turian has tried to attempt multiple spur kicks on you....you start to resent them for that. Not to mention the whole possible suit breach thing."

His voice was joking, but behind the mask his eyes flashed dangerously at the thought, he'd risked too much to let some Blue Suns Legionnaire bosh'tet take him out with a little cough. The thought was almost laughable actually, if he'd fought Krogan battlemasters, Geth Primes, Colossi, and every manner of Husk, it would be a bit insulting to let some merc take him out in a back alley brawl.

"As for my sponsor? Before today I thought it was Urdnot Wrex, i've worked with more than enough of your clan to garner his attention, not to mention I rival both he and Grunt for the highest amount of ships taken down in the Terminus. Not bragging of course, but after what Shepard told me i'm not so sure...."

Visibly looking down a moment the Quarian sighed before returning his eyes up at both he and Shaddai, grinning. "So...enough about me, since you're here i'm assuming Shepard is down to the last of us? How did both of your meetings work out? I'm still a bit surprised that she's not...taller."

[Cynical Cat]

Mikhail entered the briefing room. "I sing blues and greens to you," he said to the Rachni Warrior.