A Smuggler, a Marine, and a Krogan Walk Into a Bar...

There was a very good reason Varner had not been seen straying from the cabin he had been given for the duration of the trip. For the vast majority of his life he had grown used almost comfortable in the structure that went hand in hand with life in the System Alliance. When it came to a civilian ship however he found himself growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of order that came with such an environment. This mission was vital and he had been given a direct order to see to Noxu’s safety. So for the sake of not creating any bad blood between him and the Crew Varner stayed locked away in his quarters until it was time to depart.



At first he had been confused when his commanding officer had ordered him to accompany the civilian captain on a retrieval mission. He was even more surprised when he was given the order to ensure that no harm befell him whatsoever. While he certainly did not like the mess he found himself in he offered no sign of complaint at all. He simply confirmed he understood his orders and set off to prepare for departure. His eyes remained slightly unfocused as he thought back on the last few minutes before they had departed the SSV Raven wing when his attention was quickly snapped back to reality.



As the door burst open Noxu would suddenly see the young marine polishing his rifle. He had taken it apart and did a detailed inspection and cleaning before he had it reassembled in record time. He nodded slightly as Noxu spoke. “Understood. I will be prepped and ready to go in fifteen,” he said as he set about donning his armor and prepping his weapons for any potential problems that might arise. “If the situation takes a turn for the worst just keep your head down and I will deal with it,” he said pointedly as he continued fitting the armor.

Urdnot Krag Kael Varner

Noxu understood that it was for his best interests that Kael were to accompany him on this mission thanks to the buyer being a possible Krogan or worse. What was worse than a Krogan? He wasn't even sure, but he was certain he needed the back-up in case the deal went south. That reason alone was why Ryori had suggested... multiple time... that Kael go with. Not only did he follow orders to a T, but he didn't seem to have hesitation with following any orders given. That had he potential to be abused for certain, but Noxu wouldn't do that. Ever. No. Not Noxu. He was a good smuggler.

"Keep my head down?" he asked with an amused chuckle. He didn't have to be told to keep his head down around a potentially deadly seller. Unfortunately for Nox, he knew that the Private was important to Ryori's crew in the same way that all of his crew was important to him. If anything were to happen to him, Ryori would probably be pissed at Nox for a while and definitely give him the silent treatment. Actually, scratch the silent treatment. She'd do the exact opposite just to annoy the hell out of him. "Nah, I ain't goin' to keep my head down, kiddo. We're a team in this. We have to have each other's backs." There was no way he was going to tell Kael just why he was going to support him in a fight. He didn't need to know. Then again, he probably wouldn't have cared.

With a shrug of his shoulders, he spun about and made his way toward the exit of the room. Stopping at the doorway, he looked back at the Private and nodded. "We have a few moments 'til we're there. I'm goin' to get ready. We can meet up in the cargo hold and make sure the shipment is set and ready to go," he added before leaving the room. Fifteen or so minutes gave him more than enough time to equip his armor and get his heavy pistols ready for combat, but only if he didn't delay any.

It took no time to make it to the equipment room of his ship and gather his pistols and pull on his Armax Arsenal gear piece by piece. Unfortunately, the armor was heavy enough that he was only able to take a couple of his heavy pistols and a sniper rifle -- not that he usually needed anything more than that, however. Once he was geared up and ready to go, he stepped out of the equipment room and made his way over to the Cargo Hold where he'd hoped Kael would be. "Everything ready to go?" he asked, making sure that Kael had scanned the equipment to make sure it was the proper weight it was supposed to be. "We got one chance at this," he admitted. Whether that meant if they screwed up, their lives would be in danger or not, it wasn't too obvious.

At that moment a message came from over the comm system. It was Verine, his second-in-command. "Captain, we're approaching the station. Shall I engage the landing precautions?"

"Yeah. How else are we goin' to land?" he responded with amused sarcasm.

"Understood," came the emotionless and unamused tone.

Nox looked at Kael and just shrugged. "All right. We'll be landin' in a moment."

It didn't take long before the Ratchet had landed into the docking bay of Shadow's Peak. After clearance was given, the docking bay doors opened and his ship had landed with not a single noticeable bump from hitting the ground. After a few moments of the ship's stationary position in the hangar bay, the cargo bay door in the back began to open up until the ramp had settled on the ground. "On your toes," he said to Kael. "Shit's about to get serious."

Noxu Za'tire Urdnot Krag

Varner arched an eyebrow as he gave Noxu a pointed look. Kiddo? The word irked a nerve as he promptly corrected the smuggler. “Varner,” he managed to get out as he turned around to speak again. Then he was simply gone. The young recruit wasted no time in getting ready and was waiting in the hanger bay only five minutes later. While he waited Varner leaned back against the bulkhead and donned his helmet. Once it was firmly in place he connected the self-contained system with the rest of his gear. The visor that covered the upper portion of his face displayed a HUD that relayed various forms of information. The relative percentage of the charge left in the shield batteries located throughout his armor was one such piece of information to be had.

When Noxu finally arrived ten minutes later Varner was found performing a functions test on his rifle. There wasn’t a shred of doubt in his mind that the weapon was fully serviceable. The test was simply carried out as a way to pass time and to keep his mind sharp. When prompted on if everything was green the recruit simply offered Noxu a thumbs up without as much as a glance his way. The hiss of air that accompanied the cargo bay door as it was lowered caused Varner to stand up though he finally looked towards Noxu as he spoke. “Sir, I am always on my toes and shit is always serious. The only question is to what degree.”

Once the door was securely in place Varner moved to exit the ship before Noxu. The area had to be confirmed clear and if anyone opened fire he would rather intercept those shots rather than allowing his charge to take them. His M-8 Avenger was kept at a low ready position and just over his left shoulder the stock of another weapon could be seen but from the distance that separated the Krogan from the ship it would prove difficult to identify it as an M-23 Katana without Varner at least turning around. His favored sidearm, an M-5 Phalanx, was holstered at the small of his back which was situated next to a single Mark 14 grenade. 

It only took an instant before his green eyes began to scour the hanger bay in search of any potential threats. When he took note of the three Krogan, and the one with a shotgun in a similar stance as Varner, Varner came to an abrupt halt. His first instinct was to react to the perceived threat with a show of force. However, he suppressed that urge and simply muttered over his shoulder, “Shit has been confirmed as...severe.” His eyes never left the three Krogan as he awaited any form of aggressive moments and was fully prepared to act and defend Noxu. His next statement was a silent curse as he fully knew taking on three Krogan was particularly insane. He hoped the situation would go off without a hitch.