Welcome to Gaia! ::

Milky Way Galaxy
Widow Cluster
Citadel Station

Whitfield had walked straight to his apartment and began his own little meditation session: cleaning his weapons. It wasn't necessary with these futuristic weapons but he felt he should do it anyways. Maybe it was the soldier in his blood that told him to inspect it. After sliding the last piece back into place on his HMWA a steady ringing began to reverberate from his suit followed by a soothing female voice, "Mr. Whitfield, you have a phone call." When Roland tapped his omni-tool answering the call he was half expecting some crazed fan to scream like a girl because they had the right number, but when Ambassador Udina spoke up he immediately knew it was business.

"Captain, you're being requested at the Citadel Tower, Council Chamber; they have a mission for you. Don't screw this up."

It was nice to know that they had confidence in him in these dire times.

"Yes sir, I'll head over immediately."

When the Captain tapped the omni-tool to hang up the call the tool faded away into the suit. With a deep breath of air and a new purpose he stood, holstered his weapons, and exited his apartment heading straight for the Citadel Tower.

Milky Way Galaxy
What Cluster
What Planet

Whitfield arched his legs over the side of the Rapid Transport and hoisted himself up. The Citadel Tower was truly amazing with beautiful trees standing tall, a rock garden and even a fountain by the elevator. But what was truly amazing was how the entire Citadel was controlled from this place. It was said to also have been the place where Shepard made his last stand in a fight against Saren and the Reaper, Sovereign. The tower was a truly amazing piece of architecture that would now go down in history forever. But Whitfield had important matters to attend to as he stepped casually up the stairs to the Council Chamber where the Council members stood waiting. When he approached the outcropping for which the subjects would stand during the meeting he found himself standing next to Dhaleena, the asari from Flux. He had only glanced quickly at her with cautious eyes before the Council began the meeting.

"Ms. Dhaleena, Captain Whitfield, it has been brought to our attention that a man, Dr. Hayes has been found traveling in the Styx Theta cluster. He's believed to be involved with the death of Commander Shepard."

Whitfield's eyes narrowed when the asari councilor finished her sentence, but he knew better than to make it personal. The salarian council picked up from where the asari had left off.

"Apparently the Shadow Broker has placed a bounty on Dr. Hayes, Captain. Your mission is to track Dr. Hayes down and capture him before someone less compassionate may get their hands on him."

Roland nodded his head, "yes Council. Is there anything else I should know?" He was set, like a dog of war; give him a mission and nothing stands in the way. The turian councilor took over the meeting;

"Captain, Ms. Dhaleena will be aiding you in the capture of Dr. Hayes. C-Sec wants an overseer during the operation, someone they know."

Roland's brow furrowed when this starting and annoying news was presented, "with all due respect, Councilor, I can accomplish this mission by myself." His personal belief was that he didn't need a partner or a squad mate; he had always been able to complete the mission on his own. This turn of events frustrated Whitfield very much so. Surprisingly, Anderson, humanities council representative spoke.

"It's not up for debate, Captain. You're a soldier, and that was an order."

Whitfield didn't like it but Anderson was right, "yes sir. Will that be all?"

The asari councilor nodded her head, "good luck, Captain."

Nodding his head in acknowledgment Roland turned from the Council to walk away, but stopped momentarily to address Dhaleena. "Get whatever gear you deem necessary and meet me in C-Sec, near the requisitions office." The Captain looked straight ahead and walked away with a new purpose. Wherever Dr. Hayes might have been he would soon be getting a visit, but it would be up to Whitfield to make sure that he was the first visitor. Mercenaries were ruthless when it came to bounties, and one from the Shadow Broker meant a large sum of Credits.

Milky Way Galaxy
Widow Cluster
Citadel Station

Alia was no more happy about this assignment than the Captain was. However she was being professional enough not to let his comments phase her. She felt the same as he did, and to be perfectly honest she had little intention of meeting the human spectre again after their encounter in Flux. She straightened her uniform and stood at parade rest for the entire council session. She was neither a spectre nor a C-Sec officer. She was technically a reservist for the Serrice armed forces. The asari commando waited until the captain addressed her before he departed. She simply nodded when spoken to. She had been a soldier for eighty-two years and a police officer for forty. She was not undisciplined, and she was not careless. When the council departed she walked back to the rapid transit station and returned to her apartment complex. After entering her apartment she stripped, took a brief shower, dressed in military-issue undergarments and donned a soft-armor undersuit. She stretched and flexed as much as she could, to ensure that the suit still fit and would not hinder her mobility in combat at all. After she was satisfied she opened the hardened footlocker in her closet and pulled out her suit of colossus X light armor. She donned the armor with the grace of someone who had practiced the motions hundreds if not thousands of times. When the armor's internal VI was booted up and everything was running properly she removed her weapons from the footlocker and attached them to the appropriate hardpoints on the back of her body armor. She double checked that each weapon was at full capacity and contained the upgrades she wanted, then swapped out the Cipher I omni-tool she used for civilian work to the Savant VII omni-tool. Most of her equipment was standard gear for Serrice Commandos. The Savant line of equipment was manufactured by the Serrice council, and they provided their city's military with everything they would need. She had actually gone out and purchased several upgraded pieces of equipment, such as her Savant X bio-amp, which was not standard issue but enhanced her natural biotic abilities greatly. Once she was satisfied, she filled a duffel with her non-combat equipment. Mostly her fatigues and a few spare sets of clothing. She also packed her complete uniform, just in case.

When the asari was finished, she took a last look at her apartment and locked the door. There were a few people who were startled to see such a heavily armed asari walking down the halls, but most of the residents paid little attention to her. You saw all sorts of things on the Citadel. From asari commandos to the ultra-rare impolite hanar. The elevator ride seemed too fast this time. When the door opened she stepped off and began walking to the C-Sec entrance. There was no reason to take the rapid transit system. She preferred to walk at this point. There was a very familiar tune playing in the elevator to the C-Sec academy. She couldn't place her thumb on it, but she knew she had heard that music somewhere before. It was good to be back at C-Sec, even if she wasn't back on the force. The Academy was always a nice place to visit, and she had some friends who worked there. The first thing she noticed was the human Spectre, the second was the slightly disgruntled look on his face. She knew why that was and felt it was time to make amends. Even if her heart wasn't completely in it.

"Captain, I feel I owe you an apology. In Flux I wanted to see if you were as dedicated and level headed as my friends in the Alliance say you are. I felt that I wouldn't be able to ascertain what I wanted to if I spoke to you as a soldier. While I share your lack of enthusiasm about our being forced to work together, I want you to have some idea of what I can do. I was, and still am to some extent, a commando. I fought for the Serrice armed forces for eighty two years before I left active service and joined the reserves. I worked odd jobs until I came to C-Sec. I was there for forty years. I'm not going to jeopardize you or the mission."

Milky Way Galaxy
Sentry Omega Cluster
Hoc System
Private Research Facility, Virmire

"Gods damn you!"

Liquid splashed against the metal bulkhead, small translucent droplets flying across the room to flatten and smear against the composite walls. The tinkle of shattered glass still rang in the air as ragged breathing punctuated the steady dripping. The smell of iron wafted up into the air, and a loud screeching sound grated throughout the room as a long scaled arm wiped an entire table clean.

More equipment fell to the floor. A rack of polyethylene vials bounced off the hard floor, casting spirals of viscous fluid into motion. These spirals floated almost gracefully before pattering gently onto the already-slickened surface of the floor, and some fell onto and stained the lab suit of an imposing figure. Hunched over, heaving with anger, he stayed there, shadows cast over his face and chest making him seem like one of the predatory beasts his kind had evolved from. The spirals of pigmented liquid stained onto his lab coat only made him seem more fearsome, as if the tribal marking would come to life and engulf all around him in the red-hot fires of his rage.

A few minutes passed, however, and the ragged breathing in the room steadied to a normal pace. The figure straightened it's back before regaining it's composure, and finally lifted it's left arm and the omni-tool attached there. A few slight brushes with a clawed finger and a series of cleaning automatons came into the room and began their work. Rubbing the scratched tabletop, the reptilian being sighed as the damage refused to come off, joining the innumerable other blemishes on the overused table's surface.

Holding down a holographic key on the omni-tool, the creature's low, rumbling voice echoed through the empty room, accompanied only by the various whirs of the maintenance bots' motors. "Batch Gamma thirty-seven was a failure. Carrier virus failed to achieve sufficient intrusion before diseased cells reached maturity. Alternate carrier virus will be required for effective genetic alterations to take root."

Milky Way Galaxy
Widow Cluster
Citadel Station
Flux Bar

Fayt turned his head and watched as the salarian came in and sat down in the corner of the bar. He looked down at his table, shaking his head. "I'm just too damn paranoid," he whispered to himself.

The Alliance Chief got up from his chair and walked out of the bar. Fayt was too tired for investigating anything he thought looked suspicious. He walked down the stairs from Flux and moved to the nearest Citadel Rapid Transit terminal in the Wards main hallway. Fayt was on his way to the Presidium Embassies in just a few seconds.

When Fayt arrived at the Embassies, his temporary apartment was located there. He traveled up a few flights of steps to his apartment. Fayt waved his access card by the lock and the door opened. He walked through and moved over to his weapons locker and put his pistol inside. Then he moved over to the container next to his bed, took off his suit, and stored it inside the container. Fayt sighed, then rolledover onto his bed. It had been a tiring week. As his eyes were starting to close, Fayt started to wonder about what would happen next in his life.

"It is closed. Please refer to be briefing and report. You are not mistrusting me are you?" Oh, the word was masterfully squeezed into the conversation or more.. Meeting. Like the the common conception of a business meeting this one was just as boring and annoying. Cutting into your day of productive work and this was not productive.

She let her raised nonexistent brow lower. The turian nodded in unhappy agreement. Would they threaten her being.. Untrustworthy? No, it'd be bad for even C-Sec to openly mistrust fifty years of service. Smart move.

"Very well Asora. Dismissed." The C-Sec officer shrugged off his hand from behind his orange computer screen. Obviously absorbed within a new set of work. To her it allowed a sneaky exit not like she was already doing anything but blending into the crowd.

When you saw an asari you expected blue not the orange red of Asora. With a black dress and high color to match she made quite a spectacle. Not as if silver lacing and purple face point didn't help.

The Citadel was becoming duller. The crowds were not as exiting as they once were as she surfed through them. Each interesting or suspicious face categorized in race and color. In the longterm where would she be? Hopefully soon with the rank of Specters. That meant doing her job and doing her job right. Well.. Ninety percent the time.

The Wards were in a pleasant state. Flux's was nearby and a wine like drink watered her tongue. Something to relax her nerves the little they were flustered. Calm, that was important to clear thinking. Of course to much drink would end up far from it.

The first to approach was the volus. "Hello." She nodded to the creature with a nod of her head. She found the species intriguing but more then that polite.

"Good day Asora. What can I get for you?"

Ah.. The remembering of the name. Now not being a daily costumer she was hard to miss. Whether that be for good or bad. Pretty, petite, and red.

"Something.. Fruity. You have a thousand names for a thousand drinks. Give me something cold."

Doran seemed to be used to such requests. With a nod the creature moved off to prepare her drink.

The view was spectacular. Turning she watched trying not to push her sidearm and hip against the chair. Oh yes, something she always carried. A bit of personal protection was always good for the C-Sec officer. One that still had many angered scum bags wanting some sort of revenge. All the way back to her days of Special Response. Well.. She was still there even after her little break from C-Sec that truly wasn't any sort of break. In those days she fought for her own life and those of others then she had here.

"Here miss." The volus had returned. A cherry colored drink in a tall glass awaiting her.

"Thank you."

She drank. Hmm.. It was good. Fruity and cool. Her exact request. She'd have to ask what it was.

Milky Way Galaxy
Widow Cluster
Citadel Station
Embassy Apartment Complex

Nihlin grew sick of the bench, he couldn't relax, Nihlin was much to tired for anything, and much to drunk. He got up and started stumbling around "Why couldn't death take me to!" he mumbled that a few times while moving about. He stopped a looked at the Human "Hello human, I guess you weren't killed in the battle against Sovereign either." Nihlin laughed and then had along sigh.

Moments after talking to the human Nihlin fell to his knee's "Ugh!" he got up slowly, he then started to look at the human again, the Human seemed to him that he might have some importance to Nhlin. Nihlin continued to stumble around until he reached a railing where he could see the artificial water, it was amazing, just like any other day.

Nihlin decided to go back to the bench and try to relax, he walk before go to the bench though. He walked a little bit and look at all the commoners talking, they weren't amusing though, all they talked about was how great full it was to be alive, and how great it was the Sovereign and Saren were stopped. He did think it was great that the enemy was stopped but he just wished he had died an honorable death like his friends and family did. Nihlin pulled out a flask after sitting on the bench by the human, he looked at the human and opened his flask "To an honorable death Human!" Nihlin drank every drop in the flask.

Milky Way Galaxy
Widow Cluster
Citadel Station

The Captain had entered his ship, the SSV Iroquois several minutes prior to Dhaleena's entrance had she not approached him in C-Sec. He had thought about her for a while and how she would help with the mission. One thing the Captain was sure of was that her Biotics would come in handy more than often, and the fact that she was an ex-asari commando made it all the better. She was now a part of his squad, now that he had a squad. Hoping they would become better allies if not friends, Whitfield nodded his head and straightened up his composure.

If what she was saying was true than he would apologize for his words as well. There were so many by standards in the C-Sec Academy that always seemed to stair at the Captain and his company if he had any at the time. This time was no different from the others, except that he was about to apologize for his own wrongs. There would be whispers, Roland knew but the matter at hand was far more important than his face in the vids or the extranet.

Stepping with Alia into the elevator that led up to the Iroquois the Captain turned to her.

"Dhaleena, I appreciate your motivation, I really do. Forgive me for what I said earlier before the Council, even if it wasn't a direct attack. I want you to know though that I've never had to work with a squad-mate before so forgive me. As long as you're a part of my crew you'll be treated as an equal; it's the least I can do."

It was very unlike himself to be so formal with anyone but the Council, but he was trying hard not to offend her any more than he already had. The light flashed down their bodies, the transient colors of blue and white gliding down their bodies slower and slower as they reached the docking platform. When the doors to the elevator opened a ship almost exactly like the SSV Normandy sat docked.