#TheBryant – March 2, 2016

Jasper has remained on-board the Kodiak for the duration of the trip so far, fiddling with whatever he found fiddleable, as per normal.

Nathan has disappeared to the rec room. His feet would be kicked up onto the table occupying the centre. His helmet is sat on the table and a lit cigarette dangles between his lips. He's idly staring up at the ceiling.

Ehanis is sitting in the cargo hold, going over the gear in her travel bag to make sure everything is ready for combat. It had seen little use recently, as she's opted for lighter gear during her assignment in the Respite. She had a call with Ilyna prior to the ship going into interstellar space, with the young asari dismissing her sister's worries and advice of caution. Her coat is liying flat on the floor beside her, and Ehanis is wearing

Mendez is sitting on the sofa, his gear mostly laid out beside him as he wipes at the shotgun laying across his lap. Ever vigilant with his preparation, he has went over his equipment numerous times.

Nathan glances over his shoulder, plucking out the cigarette and tapping away some ash into an ashtray that sits on the table. "So, Mendez, how much longer until you can see your face in it?" He quips, indicating to the shotgun.

Vasquez is currently seated in the back of the shuttle, tinkering with the Confetti Maker. At the moment she is adjusting the weapon VI using a holographic projection.

Mendez gives a quick glance at Nathan as the silence is broken. "Take care of your equipment and your equipment will take care of you." he says evenly, "Has kept me alive this long."

Nathan hums and nods, patting the grenade launcher leaning against the chair. "Yeah, I hear you. Still," he says, smiling faintly. "You'll be able to blind enemies at the rate you're polishing that thing. A little glint of sunlight against it and POW! Blinded."

Mendez gives an annoyed grunt in response. "What would you suggest? I sit back, kick my legs up and poison everyone around me instead?" As usual given his monotone delivery, it's impossible to tell whether he's joking or annoyed.

Nathan holds up his hands, palms outward toward Mendez. "Alright, alright. Geez, I was only playing," he huffs. He takes another puff of his cigarette and turns away, getting the hint that the fella isn't really a social butterfly

Mendez shrugs and swaps the shotgun for his pistol, removing he thermal clip and going over the weapon once more. "Did you work with another agency before here?" he asks, not particularly interested in engaging in small-talk with the man, but also not pleased with the idea of sitting in awkward silence with him for the remainder of the trip either.

Ehanis puts a few armor pieces haphazardly into the bag and covers it with her coat before standing up. She then starts walking towards the hallway to the rec room.

Jasper whistles gleefully as he begins to adjust the pilot's seat of the shuttle.

Nathan nods. He pulls his feet from off the table and turns the chair around to face him. "I did about four or five years ago," he admits. "But I mostly worked alone or with small groups of other mercs before I came to Aite."

Nathan frowns and gestures to Mendez. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Mendez shrugs once more, his attention firmly on his equipment rather than Ten. "The type who is just looking to make some quick credits. Sell yourself out to the highest bidder." He lifts his pistol and looks it over, turning it in his hands. Once satisfied, he sets it aside and glances back at Nathan over his shoulder, "Am I wrong?"

Nathan furrows his brow. "Half-right. Believe me, credits are nice," he starts. "But I am a sucker for a good cause. I don't just whore myself out to whoever waves the fattest paycheck." He blinks as he realises he's being slightly hypocritical, considering he didn't really do that much of a background check on Redrock. Well, Mendez doesn't need to know that.

Mendez grabs his shotgun once more and loads a thermal clip into it. He ensures the safety is on before setting it back down. "Can't be too critical of anyone in this field." he admits.

Nathan chuckles grimly. "You're a curt bastard, you know that right?" He finishes off his cigarette and turns to stub it out in the ashtray, before turning back to Mendez. "Alright then, what about you? You been with Redrock long?"

Ehanis enters the recreational room and takes a free chair by the table. She doesn't interrupt them, however.

Mendez nods once. "Since they arrived on Aite." he says, repeating the process for his pistol. "I was-... between jobs at the time. Can't pass up a good opportunity when it lands in your lap."

Nathan turns and smiles to Ehanis, then turns back to Mendez. "Fair enough. Can't argue with that," he agrees. "I take it you've been a hired-gun for a long time?"

Mendez stands from the couch and begins to collect his gear, placing thermal clips in compartments and holstering his weaponry. "I've been a lot of things." he says plainly, deciding to make his way over to the table and join the pair. He nods at Ehanis. "The old man run you off?"

Nathan shrugs at the vague answer and turns his chair around once again to face the pair.

Vasquez curses as the hologram flashes red, and the Confetti Maker's VI lets out an "Error!". She backtracking through the changes she made.

Ehanis shrugs. "Nah, barely seen the guy outside the shuttle," she says. "I checked my gear to see if it'll all gonna work when it counts. It's not seen any use since I first moved here."

Mendez raises an eyebrow. "But... this isn't your first real gig, right? You said you worked on Omega for a while, I assumed it wasn't as a dancer?" he asks. Possibly a joke. Possibly just a rude insult. Most likely just an insensitive question.

Jasper glances back from the cockpit. "You havin' a lil' bit a' trouble, Chief?" he asks.

Mendez furrows his brow as his gaze returns to Nathan, not particularly understanding the implication.

Ehanis smirks. "Whatever made the ends meet," she says. "Merc jobs over there were a bit simpler, though. It's nothing like the stories I've heard from other Red Rocks."

Mendez nods, looking down at the table momentarily, the first seam of an otherwise infallible mountain of a man. "There have been a few.... rough times." he admits. "With any luck, this job will not go on that list."

Nathan furrows his brow. "What do you guys mean?"

Vasquez tries to swipe a complicated-looking holographic readout to the other end of the display, failing and instead causing it to stretch, covering half the display. "No..." Another quiet curse. "...it's... fine... latest software update has a new interface..."

Jasper frowns. "Dang companies always gotta go messin' with crapola jussss' when ya got it the way ya want it. I ever tell ya 'bout the time I crashed a troop transport through the engineer bay doors when I was stationed at Arturus Station?" He lets out a long, drawn out whistle. "That was ugly. Same stink, though. Missed the memo on an update and BAM! Nobody got hurt, bless it kindly."

Ehanis nods towards Mendez. "You been on one of those jobs?"

Mendez opens his mouth to speak, but suddenly goes quiet. "It's not my place to speak about private company business. Probably better to talk with Wolfe or the Chief. Needless to say, what we do is dangerous. It should come as no surprise to either of you that things can rapidly get out of hand." he says, taking the easy way out rather than delve into stories of monsters and ancient

Vasquez temporarily stops what she's doing to glance to her side at the cockpit, silently hoping she misheard him. "...you did what?"

Nathan leans back into his seat, his brow creasing in thought. "Huh. Well that's one way to dodge a question," he mutters.

Jasper stops tinkering with his seat and turns to face the woman. He gives a quick shrug. "Oh... I s'pose there ain't much more to it than that." he says, reaching for a rag to wipe at the grime on his hands. "Coulda swore I took 'er outta reverse. Gave 'er a lil nudge on the accelerator and next thing I knew I was in the next room." He gives a jovial chuckle and a shake of his head, "Damndest thing. Nearly dirtied my poopdeck."

Gren is still lingering at the cargo containers, arms folded and eyes closed. Maybe he's resting his eyes?

Ehanis nods. "And on Omega, that happening means it's a good time to get the fuck out of there," she says. "Not gonna bail on this job, though, so don't you worry about that. This is different from freelance work."

Mendez returns his gaze to Ehanis, silently assigning the label of 'coward' to her and committing it to memory, should anything go wrong. "That's-.... good to hear."

Vasquez shoots Jasper another skeptical glance. "Uh... huh." Her attention soon turns back to the Confetti Maker, trying again, without success, to move the hologram. It has now expanded to cover the entire display. She lets out a frustrated sigh and presses the button to restart the weapon electronics.

Nathan nods lightly, tapping his fingers against the table. "Feel free to. I'll try and persuade the Chief to give me your cut," he jokes, winking at her.

Mendez nearly cracks a smile at the asari. "Intel is always only as trustworthy as the one providing it. If we get there and the krogan doesn't end up being on the level, I'm sure the Chief will re-evaluate our situation. Worst case scenario, we wasted a day and get paid for sitting on our asses. It could be worse."

Nathan listens quietly to the pair.

Ehanis nods. "The boss being in the middle of this is... reassuring, I suppose," she says.

Nathan claps his hands together and stands. "Well, suppose I'll catch some shut eye," he announces as he grabs his gear. He offers them a single wave as he makes for the spare bunks in the living quarters.