When The Dust Settles, A simple meeting of sorts...

[Mithias]

CN-07 Batalla
Chandrasekhar System
Hawking Eta Cluster

With a flash of bluish light, the Batalla stealth cruiser wrenched itself out of mass relay travel from the Omega Mass Relay. The lystheni captain gave the command instantly, “Scan for vessels. Initiate stealth protocols.”

“Yessir”.

Captain Frei’jov relayed the command to his crew and they quickly complied, knowing that being in hostile systems demanded quick response and attention to detail on stealth operations. A lystheni sensor operator reported back...

“No ships detected sir. Undetected entry".

Nodding, the captain looked over at Ezramon. The blue-skinned salarian stood with his arms folded, peering out of the viewport. The mastermind said absently, “Captain Frei’jov, adjust your course to prepare us for another run through the mass relay to the Pangea Expanse. I need to ensure our signals analysis is correct. I will speak with you momentarily…”

Exiting the bridge, Ezramon made his way to the lift and took the high speed transit to Level 2, where the Intelligence Operations Space was situated. The bright passageway lights gave way to the darkened space, only illuminated by the dozens of holovid screens spread throughout the area. Striding over to his personal terminal, Ezramon quickly punched in his elaborate security code and looked over the communications signals that was leading him to his quarry. Nodding in satisfaction, he walked over to a communicator and keyed up the bridge.

“Captain Frei’jov, program the mass relay coordinates to take us to 4577462256…”

“Sir, that is the Pangea Expanse. Are you certain—“

“Do as I command, Captain…”

“Yessir”

At this point, the Batalla had swung around, aligning its elongated hull with the mass relay in front of it. Dropping out of stealth, the cruiser collected the crackling blue lights as it was lost in millions of streaks of light, propelling the ship to a very distant system…

[Mithias]

CN-07 Batalla
Bridge
Pangea Expanse

With a flash of bluish light, the Batalla stealth cruiser wrenched itself out of mass relay travel from the Omega Mass Relay. The lystheni captain gave the routine command instantly, “Scan for vessels. Initiate stealth protocols.”

The usual response came timely, “Yessir”.

Captain Frei’jov relayed the command to his crew and they quickly complied, knowing that being in hostile systems demanded quick response and attention to detail on stealth operations. A lystheni sensor operator reported back, “Sir, I have two vessels on track that detected our entry! One Yustavin-class frigate and one unidentified corvette—combatant profile…pirates sir!”

Nodding, the captain looked over at Ezramon. The salarian quickly commanded, “Captain Frei’jov, we make for the mass relay, do what you have to do”.

Nodding grimly, the lystheni ship captain informed his employer, “Sir, they are situated by this mass relay. They are turning about in an attack profile. If we initiate stealth protocols, they will wait for us to make our handshake with the mass relay and attempt to disable us. I recommend eliminating both before our jump…”

Ezramon simply stared at him and stated coldly, “We have little time for me to repeat myself, Captain. I said ‘do what you have to do’…”

Seeming both insulted and complimented at the same time for the vote of confidence, the Captain immediately came over the 1MC, “Battlestations. All hands to battlestations. Set condition red. Initiate stealth protocols. Prep Wyvern drone for cold launch.”

The dim blue lighting shifted over to red as “general quarters” was called. The Batalla slowed its progress and winked out of existence. As predicted, the frigate and the corvette maneuvered themselves in an offensive arrangement, in close proximity to the mass relay. It was fortunate they were not in position as the Batalla exited the mass relay or else it would have made for an easy mark…

Rubbing his chin, the lystheni ship captain commanded to his helmsman, “Slow and easy. Wide arc to get behind that Yustavin. Those twin MACs do not need to be pointed in our direction when we emerge.”

“Yessir”

Gingerly, the lystheni helmsman prodded the Batalla out of viewport range of the two opposition ships. The two pirate vessels were actively scanning for the old Confederate vessel, but were unable to detect its stealth profile. Everyone aboard knew that they were lucky that the opposition vessels did not possess the latest and greatest LADAR/RADAR suites or they would have been surely detected when actively seeking a stealth vessel. A stealth vessel was only effective when no one was actively looking for it…

The Captain spoke outloud to no one inparticular, working through the scenario, “Cannot dead fire the Wyvern. Too close. Will be detected on release. Have to ‘alpha strike’ the frigate and hope for the best on the corvette. We are not a fully armed warship, so frigate will have to be a fast kill. Corvette is armed with torpedoes, so position of Yustavin attack will have to be safe angle for corvette as well. It is more maneuverable, so one shot from the Mark II should suffice. Shift targets after one shot on frigate. Gamble. But high percentage gamble. Any suggestions, sir?”

Looking up at Ezramon expectantly, the mastermind responded simply, “This is not my area of expertise, Captain. Your call.”

Nodding to himself, he commanded, “Helm, maneuver to turn to starboard bearing 035. Make your speed .03 light. Come about bearing 280 in marked time 280 seconds. Initiate.”

He and the crew patiently waited as the Batalla slowly glided around the mass relay to maneuver behind the frigate. Nearly an hour passed as the Batalla patiently made its way to its firing position. Barely a sound was heard aboard the ship, as if bumping into something would give away their position.

The weapons officer piped up, breaking the silence, “Sir, I have a firing solution on both targets.”

“Fire.”

The Batalla erupted from the stars in a flurry of ordinance. The ship lurched as the first shot from the Mark II was unleashed, followed immediately by TAP missiles streaking from their tubes and the GARDIANS that could make the angle, lit up space with their hued beams. The Yustavin-class frigate bucked and shuttered under the furious onslaught. The MAC did minimal damage, but completely wiped away the shields. The spread of TAP missiles were intercepted deftly by the frigate’s GARDIANS, but one streaked past the curtain of defenses. It slammed into the rear of the frigate, rending two of the anti-proton engines in a ball of light.

The Captain didn’t risk turning the corvette yet, “Weapons, one more MAC solution on the frigate. Helm, once the ship shoots, maneuver thrust for firing solution on the corvette.”

The frigate was desperately trying to get out of the forward arc of the attacking cruiser, but with two of its four engines obliterated, it was slow going…until the next Mark II shot plowed into it amidships.

BOOM!

The frigate shuttered violently as the MAC round severed the frigate in two pieces. The maneuvering thrusters screamed as the Batalla lurched to port. The deft corvette was already maneuvering to get behind the Batalla for a torpedo run, but it was a few seconds too late…

Another volley of TAP missiles, GARDIAN shots and a final MAC shot slammed into the lightly armored corvette. Almost missing it entirely, the ordinance ripped into the aft section of the corvette, accomplishing a reactor hit—the corvette exploded instantly into a ball of fire and shrapnel. The Batalla heaved from the blast and warning sirens cascaded the bridge.

One of the operators relayed, “Sir, we are at 94% heat emissions and shields are at 17%!”

The Captain nodded in response as space around the Batalla got very quiet…

A stillness flowed across the Batalla as it slowly recovered from the furious assault.

Ezramon smiled at the Captain, walked over, clasped him on the shoulder and said softly, “Well done, Captain. Make our repairs and replenishment here. Then make your jump to the Nemean Abyss.”

“Nemean Abyss?”

The dark eyes of Ezramon bored into the Captain, which elicited a simple response, “Yessir!”

[Mithias]

CN-07 Batalla
Bridge
Nemean Abyss

Streaks of bluish light dissipated from the stars, depositing the sleek form of the refitted Confederacy stealth cruiser, the last of its kind. Its neon-blue running lights sank into obscurity as the vessel slid into stealth operation.

“All clear, sir…surprisingly”

Captain Frei’jov nodded stoically to his sensor operator and continued to stare out the viewport as if half expecting a pirate frigate to jump out with MACs blazing, but it never came. Peering over at the pilot of the massive cruiser, he commanded, “Helm, make a roundabout course for the Mass Relay across the system. On your star charts, it is the Eveckan Lhor Nebulae Cluster relay. Avoid the traffic around the Cartegena Station…”

“Aye sir”.

Smoothly, the long cruiser bent through the starry backdrop and meandered towards its destination. Hours passed with the Batalla making all efforts to avoid the occasional gaggle of pirate interlopers. Fortunately, Captain Frei’jov was one of the best in the business…and that is exactly why Ezramon hired him. Making slight adjustments to their course periodically was enough to avoid any undue attention. It was the Batalla’s mission to be a ghost, a ship that came through, yet never was here.

Almost a full day passed within the dangerous Nemean Abyss, avoiding the worst of the worst among pirates and Batarian privateers. The crew of the Batalla were noticeably on edge during the lengthy, tedious transit of the treacherous system, but many began to relax as the hulking Mass Relay could be seen through the forward viewport.

Captain Frei’jov showed no such signs of relaxing. The lystheni salarian’s face was a mask, frozen with concern. Quietly, he commanded, “Helm, make a wide approach and ensure a positive mesh for the Eveckan Lhor Nebulae Cluster before dropping from stealth to make the transit”.

“Aye, aye sir”.

Another hour passed with barely two words spoken on the bridge. The helmsman looked back at his “skipper” and stated, “We are ready, Captain”.

In turn, he looked over at Ezramon. Without a moment’s hesitation, Ezramon nodded.

"Proceed".

Slipping out of its stealth running, the Batalla propelled itself alongside the mass relay amidst the crackling bluish energy and disappeared further into the uncharted realms…

[Mr. Dust]

Much had happened of late, many twists and turns throughout the galaxy, not neccersarily amongst the Bacalou. Various 'players' throughout mapped space had seemingly slipped into obscurity, the colony of Zesmeni was left with little in the way of a populace, sure there was no shortage of asari that could migrate to the planet... whether or not they would was another matter entirely, and not one the puppet master needed to concern himself with.

'Kali' had been moved from the omega nebulae and transported to a highly secure facility, it was secure for the simple reason that aside from himself and his sentry, they were the only two in the complex, any other lifesigns detected in the hallways would either be an intruder or a containment breach.

But that was some distance away, today it was business as usual, another day at the office on the planet of Ardawin. The satillite feeds were, as usual, sketchy at best, puncturing the radiation of element zero that made up majority of the planets atmosphere made it exceedingly difficult to get an accurate feed, only a few pockets were open every once in a while.

Fortunately it'd only take a few moments for the early detection system to alert those groundside if they had guests in orbit, whether or not it would detect stealth was yet to be determined, as far as anyone on the planet knew, there hadn't been any stealth ships attempting to land on the planet... so either the satillite didn't pick up such details, or it hadn't needed to.

Gloves hands clasped a vial of a rather unique concoction, toxic to some, a boon to others, some may have even called it a miracle in a bottle. Perhaps one day those in 'mapped space' would reap the benefit... but not today.

[Mithias]

CN-07 Batalla
Bridge
Orbit of Ardawin
The stealth cruiser slowly glided around the outer orbit of the peculiar, blue planet as it had been for hours. It was a strange system with sensors even picking up a large amount of electronic communications traffic from the distant planet of Locart—but that was not why the League of One operative was here...

Ezramon stared out of the viewport for what seemed like an hour while the crew waited expectantly. He broke the silence with an inquiry, “Is the status the same?”

Captain Frei’jov nodded in confirmation and replied, “Aye sir. Our sensors cannot pinpoint any specific energy reading on the surface of the planet”.

Tearing his dark gaze from the planet, he stared at the lystheni captain, “Yet there are satellites collecting data for someone on the planet’s surface. Those signals are making it through the interference to their destination, correct?”.

The lystheni began to nod slowly, seeming to grasp where the mastermind’s thought process was going. To clarify, Ezramon ordered, “The satellites will always have something to report—it is the only eyes those below have. With the shifting radiation levels and the quantity of element zero, the satellites will collect the data and send it to its destination when the conditions are correct. When there is a carrier return on the distant end, triangulate where the signals are sent, pinpoint the coordinates. Go about this in a meticulous fashion, Captain. Take your time and prepare carefully…”

“Aye sir”.

__________________________________________________________________

CN-07 Batalla
Bridge
Orbit of Ardawin
3 Hours Later
“Sir, we’ve got the coordinates!”

Ezramon strode over and looked over the sensor operator’s shoulder to look at the data himself. He inquired, “You have scanned this area?”

“Yessir. We cannot get a visual, but judging by the signal strength, the sensor assembly does not carry a transmitter with the signal strength of most facilities. The footprint of the facility is most likely very small. Sir…how did you know that something was there?”

A simple glare from Ezramon quickly revealed to the Captain that he was treading in an area where he should not. Instantly, the matter was dropped.

Further solidifying the fact that the matter was to be dropped, Ezramon ordered, “You are to remain in orbit with stealth protocols enacted. Be wary of any massing of enemy ships that may find their way here”.

“Is that a possibility, sir?”

Ezramon nodded and confirmed, “If I am not successful in my affairs on the surface, it is a very real possibility.”

The lystheni Captain looked both concerned and confused, “You are going to the surface of Ardawin…alone sir?”

Not even looking over to the Captain as he was exiting the bridge, he said, “Yes. Have your crew prepare the launch of a stealth pod close to those coordinates…”

[Mr. Dust]

The chemical agent was carefully stored in a freeze chamber, even a few degrees off and it would have a much different effect than intended, and personally when you've worked on something for the better part of a month, day in and day out... you'd rather not start again from scratch due to laziness and dragging ones heels.

The container opened with a hiss and carefully, the agent was placed within the cold claws to hold it in place, another push of a button and it decended down into it's icy abode. With that finally taken care of, it was time for a snack, perhaps some berries. It was the simple things in life that made life worth living. Though a hunter-forager diet wasn't for everyone, ohh how the euphoric memory of the taste of steak could drive one mad.

As the container was locked and sealed, the user moved to leave, that was until the omni tool attached to their wrist made all the signs of an incoming message, curious... a button was pushed and the message was displayed.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
From: Sakoda Toku [Address Blocked]
To: afgjwag452ghialw141y [Address Blocked]
Subject: Code
Attachment: How to decode.file

Hi Bacalou dude.. or.. dudes.

Got your cryptic message, deciphered the code. It's reaper scrawl, but I think you knew that already, you had me study it on Lorek. Anyway, from what I was able to learn, it's an activation code for a relay and there is also a countdown timer. Why reapers would hinge a plan of theirs on a ticking clock I'm not sure but there it is.

Only so much I can learn from partial coding, which is another thing, when the core was snatched it seemed to have severed a data transfer between two neighbouring reaper shells. I have little idea just how much data is on the one you lot have and no idea on what was on the other two that got taken.

Glad I could help, would love to get another study of it, message me back if your amicable or whatever, guessing you are otherwise why send this to me right?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Wonders never ceased, hope and expectation was beginning to wane that Toku would ever respond. It was even less expected that the response would be cordial and informative but against the odds she'd been quite helpful afterall and more over, wanted to help further by getting access to the core.

Why she'd gone since leaving Lorek and Omega wasn't entirely known, there were an infinite amount of planets she could have wandered off to but she'd sent this message from somewhere that housed at least a modern terminal system. Knowing the type of woman she was, she wouldn't resign herself to conditions lesser than Omega... probably Illium where money inspires.

There'd been no word from Platform 47 nor Samael within the syndicate... but Illium was a big place, it was also home to many enterprising organisations that masquaraded as well to do security firms... and others that were more... subtle.

Pieces were falling into place... slowly, too slow. One can have all the patience in the galaxy, but even reapers... sentient machines bent on galactic genocide, had shown tendencies to act with haste. If it weren't for their gargantuan size it'd be a wonder how they survived so long and in such great numbers. Though the latter was likely an impossible quandry, how many civilizations exist in the void of space that still assume they are the only intelligent life out there?

The attachment was opened and inside featured an amusing article by none other than Toku herself on how to figure the code out... it would be so much easier to just put her infront of it again, that and there'd be less exposure to one's self if they didn't have to be the one analzying the code. A message was sent back informing her that the Bacalou will be in touch... for now, time for berries... and nuts.

[Mithias]

Low Orbit of Ardawin
2 Hours Later

The dark pod drifted with purpose through the dark of space, on a direct line towards planet of Ardawin. Fire began to lick at the pod as it began to sink into the dense atmosphere. The atmosphere rocked and slammed the pod so violently, it threatened to collapse the hull of the delivery vehicle. Many minutes later, probably with a bit of luck, the pod emerged from the dangers of planetary entry and plummeted in a free fall towards the jungle-covered surface below. As the pod neared the surface, its propulsion units activated and rapidly slowed its descent right before slamming through thick tree branches and slamming to the jungle floor.

For many moments, the alien stealth pod sat still among the jungle, teeming with wildlife. With a hiss, the pressurized door assembly swung open. A salarian form emerged from the pod, covered from head to toe in custom-designed Wraith Armor, matted black. The helmet was not the usual large “oval” characteristic of salarian headware, but instead, it was formed to the shape of the salarian head within, complete with two bulging horns. The figure slapped his hands to the small of his back, fully extending a pair of Ziltus Jor Tactical Sidearms, preparing to venture further into the jungle. The very presence of the stealth pod and its occupant seemed to be an aberration among the populous of the jungle. Wildlife screamed in protest at the intruder as it traversed the jungle floor.

Ezramon looked down at his omni-tool with his left hand dancing across the console. In seconds, he was aware of his direction and distance to his destination measured by the origin signal picked up from the Batalla. As he surveyed the terrain, delicately picking his way through the forest, he could not help but feel like he was being watched. Sticking to the long shadows of the towering trees, the salarian flitted through the darkness, hugging the trees as he picked his way closer. In his estimation, he had close to a mile of jungle to cover. While he wished his entry could have landed him closer, caution was the name of the game. He knew he would only get one shot at finding his quarry—he was not about to blow that opportunity due to haste and lack of attention to detail…

Moments later, a trio of piercing howls could be heard from up ahead, immediately followed by multiple growls, the gnashing of tooth and claw with the sickening sound of the rending of flesh. Ezramon hunkered down and padded lightly to a large tree. A small clearing was occupied by the swirling forms of five oversized varren who had cornered a trio of large demonic-looking hounds. It was clear to the assassin that the varren were not wholly natural, due to their elongated jaws and claws as well as their tremendous size. The three creatures they fought also did not appear to be naturally occurring creatures—obvious to Ezramon that these were genetic creations of the Bacalau…

The attack went on for a couple of minutes. One by one, the mutated varren fell to the powerful trio of the demonic hounds. As the last claw rended one of the varren in two, all that was left was a pair of the demonic hounds. Their keen sense of smell was remarkable. Even through the acrid smell of blood, they were able to pick out the scent of the salarian onlooker 60 feet away. As one, the bloody pair of hounds charged towards the spot Ezramon chose as his vantage point. They crossed the distance faster than even a cheetah could dare to hope. In sync, both sprung at the same time, ready to rend the much smaller humanoid to ribbons, adding more meat to their dinner. Bluish energy instantly coalesced around the salarian. In a flash of aqua light, Ezramon streaked past them both to where they both began amongst the carcasses. With a graceful roll, the salarian spun around and came to his feet with both Ziltus Jor pistols leveled. Both animals stood up confused from their pounce as their claws did not find their desired prey. The silenced pistols rocked in his hand as round after round were sent into the hound that was the healthier of the two. Although very quick and powerful, they had little to protect their hides from the powerful rounds that ripped through flesh. After nearly eight shots to the abdomen and skull area, one of the hounds succumbed to the wounds and fell dead. The other, seeming to care little, sprung again. Ezramon knew that he would not be able to muster enough biotic energy to attempt a second escape in that manner.

SCHINKK!

The bayonets from the pair of pistols extended as the hound sprung again with its claws leading. Once in the air, Ezramon dove underneath the creature, spiraling under the beast with the Ziltus Jor pistols leveled at its belly. One claw tore into his shoulder, but the armor stopped the claw just short of taking his arm off. The pistols bucked again as they fired into the body of the creature as it sailed past. The bayonets were held high enough that the momentum of the beast was enough to eviscerate itself from the bayonets that were positioned into its belly. It too fell to the ground in a pile of innards and blood.

Ezramon slowly rose to his feet, rolling his left shoulder to work out the impact of the claws. His armor was thrashed in the shoulder area, but he was extremely fortunate to suffer only cursory injuries from the attack. The salarian did not want to think about what could have happened had he encountered a trio of these creatures healthy…

Taking extra precautions while threading into the jungle, Ezramon covered the distance to the structure slower than he would have liked, but due to the dangers of the wildlife now apparent to him, the delay was necessary. However, his precautions paid off. Eventhough he was witness to more dangerous predators, they did not notice his passage. Over two hours later, Ezramon got to a towering fence, protecting a small area with a tiny structure atop a rocky mountain. Upon further examination, the fence was humming with powerful electricity. Judging by the 20 feet high fence and the level of the cables, it was designed to keep menacing wildlife out of the area. On the pylons of the fence were mounted remote gun turrets as a further deterrent. While designed to protect against wildlife, it was not designed to keep out skilled infiltrators.

Using an analytical eye, the assassin looked over the barriers in front of them and systematically broke down their weak points. Padding close to one of the pylons, the salarian could smell the ozone emitted from the many amperes of electricity flowing through the fence. Just to the side of the turret, Ezramon summoned his biotic energy to him and shot up and over the fence in a ball of blue energy. He came down on his feet hard, but was able to immediately tuck into a practiced roll to mitigate the impact of his fall. While he could use his biotics to slow his descent, the speed of the maneuver did not allow two separate activations of his gifts in that small amount of time.

Coming up the backside of the mountain, Ezramon darted from tree to tree, cautious of any surprises that could be lying in wait for him. Slipping past more turrets and keeping out of their sensor range, some twenty minutes passed before the salarian made it to the side of the small structure. Even the facility itself was ringed with turrets, which also slowed his progress considerably. Within the fenced area, the defenses were much more geared towards humanoid interlopers than critters, but in the end, such a structure counted on secrecy, not its fortifications. To the side of him was a blast door with a security pad that led to the interior. He also spied a camera above the door, vigilant against people such as him. Taking a deep breath, Ezramon prepared to enter the structure…

[Mr. Dust]

[Included a map for ease of reference, Ezramon would note that the writing on the walls are of salarian scripture :3 - Map]

Ardawin Facility
Greenhouse

What was his name? The Butcher of Ral Turnadil, what Ral Turnadil was was unknown to supposedly many. Much about the being was enigmatic at best in this day and age, like oneself they enjoyed cloaking themselves into obscurity, their motivations seemingly obvious to some while difficult to comprehend to others.

Located before the viewer within the greenhouse resided one of his creations, named Hecate. What motivated Mike Weston to create this plant was another riddle that needed solving, though their paths had never crossed, his other work seemed to infer that the Butcher was not much interested in plantlife or the associating fields like herbology... which made this creation something of a bastard child, something bred out of a 'romp' with the unfamiliar.

However whether by natural or unatural occurance, Hecate was a living entity and as such was afforded the measure of respect all living things should be afforded... it was just a pity that they were dying quicker than what could be produced. Heavy hands dumped the desolate 'carcass' of the plant into the incinirator so that it's previous home could make way for something else.

While in the room, it was decided that checking up on the Lanmò plants that had been flourishing for a few months now, their tasty treasures would soon be cultivated and stave off a few undesirable effects. One must never forget to be weary of plucking it's fruits though, least one get a nasty bite for carelessness...