#Illium – March 8, 2016

Jasper taps at the interface, nodding to himself. "You got it!" he says, working in tandem with Nathan to get the shuttle skyborn. "Back to the ship, Chief?"

Mendez lets out a deep breath, running a hand through his hair, which is messy by this point due to the helmet. "Probably the hospital first, right?" he asks, glancing at Vasquez, "...Not sure how that's gonna go. Are we even sure we're allowed to be here right now?"

Vasquez moves one of her feet for a steadier stance as the shuttle starts to move. She looks towards Ehanis. "How bad is it?" She turns to Aylena. "Those people - you think they'll come after us?"

Aylena takes off her helmet, putting it down on the floor. "I will need to find out," she says, before enabling her omni-tool, starting some kind of program. "It may not be a coincidence that they struck shortly after your ship approached."

Nathan focuses on assisting Jasper, his hands dancing across the interface.

Ehanis looks down. "It's bad," she says. "Medi-gel's got it covered for now, but I don't feel it would be a good idea to wait until we're back on Aite to get it treated."

Vasquez snaps back to Ehanis, doing her best at a reassuring look. "Wasn't suggesting that. I think we'd be better of heading to a Nos Astra hospital though, put some distance between us and the mission site, and the NAPD is familiar with Redrock."

Jasper has brought the shuttle up to a much higher altitude. "Sounds like a plan. Getcha there in a jiffy." The shuttle banks slightly, setting course for Nos Astra.

Vasquez looks at Gren. "Can you contact your ship and tell them to go into orbit? It'd be bad if they were chased off by spaceport authorities while we get Tioran treated.

Ehanis sighs relieved, but does not give any more of an answer than that.

Gren nods. "Pun you copy?" He waits a few moments as the reply comes through. "Head to orbit and hold position for now."

Mendez shifts in his seat, grunting a bit at the throbbing pain in his back. He gains an uncomfortable look at the mention of police. "I'd prefer if I wasn't forced to interact with Illium authorities... If it's avoidable."

Jasper continues towards their destination. "Well..." he shouts back upon hearing the salarian, "...we should be lonnnng gone by the time they get here!"

Aylena nods. "Good," she says. "It's a terrible part of town, so I wouldn't wager on them putting an honest effort into that case."

Vasquez sets the Confetti Maker down on the floor of the shuttle, so that she can put her free hand against the wall for stability. "Tennhausen, for the record, if I want something blown up, I'll tell you. Think before you shoot next time."

Mendez sighs and leans forward, placing his forearms on his knees. "So I guess that answers that question." he grunts, "Not supposed to be here..."

Vasquez stares Nathan down, clearly not as amused as he is. "Sure. Care to speculate what would've happened if it hit the building across the street? Or a car?"

Mendez glares towards the cockpit. "Or me."

Nathan turns around. "Then it would've likely been demolished," he says, clearly become slightly irate. "But I've been doing this for nine years, Chief. I'm not that moronic to miscalculate a trajectory with the assistance of my HUD and hit a stationary target on the other side of the street."

Vasquez repeats "Next time, permission first." and turns around, taking a seat near where she put down her gun, and letting out a loud sigh. "Alright..." She looks at Aylena. "While we're on our way, how about you fill me in... these people, how likely that they've bribed anyone in Nos Astra to interfere?"

Nathan nods. "Aye, aye." He turns back to the dashboard.

Jasper gives a low chuckle at Nathan's interaction with Vasquez. He leans over, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Lemme give ya couple a' phrases to commit to the ol' thought box fer' the next time ya deal with the Chief." he says, reaching out and tapping the side of Nathan's helmet. " 'Yes ma'am.' 'I'm sorry, ma'am.' 'Right away, ma'am.' You repeat those over to yerself. Keep it in mind and it'll allll be gravy."

Nathan huffs but nods, batting Jasper's hand away. "Alright, alright," he says with a light chuckle

Aylena shakes her head. "That is improbable at best," she says. "For one, they won't have the time to prepare an ambush that wouldn't get the authorities all over them in an instant, even if they operated out of Nos Astra."

Vasquez nods. "Alright, good." After a moment she adds. "I haven't forgotten that we were hired under false pretenses, but if everything works out I'm willing to let that go. Whether you want to stay on Illium or travel back to Aite with us after Ehanis is taken care of I don't care about, but I'm going to need the payment to be cleared out before we part ways. And if Illium authorities are

Mendez remains quiet, instead opting to begin removing all of the weapons he collected and setting them on the open spot on the bench beside him.

Aylena nods. "Understood," she says. "I will return to Aite with you. I predict I will be safer there while I wait for the court date."

Ehanis tilts her head. "I can get back to Aite on my own if you don't feel like waiting for the hospital to let me out," she says. "Who knows how long that will take...."

Mendez continues removing thermal clips from the weapons, his focus firmly on the bench beside him. "I don't know about the rest of you." he chimes in, "But I have no interest in remaining on Illium any longer than required..."

Nathan peers around. "I don't mind either way," he says.

Vasquez 's gaze moves to the shuttle wall for a moment as she considers this. "Fair enough." She says, and then looks at Ehanis. "We're not leaving until I can make sure you'll be safe in that hospital though."

Gren has remained silent, watching the mercs carefully.

Ehanis nods, and enables her omni-tool. "Alright, just... don't tell my sister exactly what happened," she says. "My chances of getting another mission like this are slim enough as it is."

Vasquez gains a faint frown, not particularly looking forward to informing Ilyna her sister nearly got blown up. "It'll be fine. I think you have a place in Redrock, kid, and I'm hoping she'll see that. Try not to get caught in any more explosions though... I'd never hear the end of it." She says, cracking a slight smile - although her eyes still show signs of the concern she's trying to hide.

Nathan taps the dashboard, eyes flicking over the readout.

Ehanis gives a small smile. "Thank you," she says. "I'll stay back the next time I don't know what's around the corner." She is typing on her omni-tool.

Aylena sits back, and taps around on her omni-tool. "Is she your only injured?" she asks, gesturing at Ehanis.

Jasper continues to focus on the interface before him as he navigates towards the Nos Astra hospital. "Don'tchoo worry. We'll be there soon." he says.

Vasquez turns her head to Aylena and nods. "Yeah."

Aylena nods and taps a few more times on her omni-tool before letting its interface go away. "They should be ready for you when you get there."

Mendez glances over at Ehanis. "Like I said: I had it under control..."

Mendez gives a slight shrug, returning his attention to the weaponry at his side. "I did. All due respect, but you didn't contribute a whole lot to my safety in the matter regardless. And I'm not the one being rushed to the hospital to have shrapnel pulled from my asscheek."

Jasper taps at the holographic interface, his eyes sweeping back and forth on the readouts as the shuttle descends to the Nos Astra hospital. "Alright, folks. We're here in one piece, more or less."

Vasquez braces herself for the landing, steadying her stance.

Ehanis nods. "Yeah, you got out of it, I get that," she says, "but we heard shooting coming from there. You were taking a risk that they wouldn't have three mercs ready to gun you down."

Mendez sits back, reaching up to grab the harness to stay secure. "It's not a risk if you know you're going to win."

Nathan looks expectantly at Jasper, to see if he can assist in anything.

Jasper seems to have it under control. The shuttle touches down softly and the door slides open.

Gren moves to the side to allow the many occupants to exit

Vasquez steps out of the shuttle, heading towards the hospital right away. "I'll tell them to get a stretcher out here. You probably shouldn't be putting any weight on that..." She says, already on her way towards the entrance.

Nathan hums and leans back in his seat.

Aylena unharnesses and stands up. "I'll return in a moment," she says before stepping out of the shuttle, gesturing to asari and salarian that sat across from her to follow. "I need to send my team home, for they won't be coming with us to Aite." The salarian then nudges the asari awake. Aylena starts walking off towards the hospital as well, not awaiting any response fro the others in the shuttle, and the other two soon follow.

Mendez remains in the seat as Vasquez exits, showing no intentions of getting up.

Jasper glances back towards the crew. "Looks like that's yer' ride comin' this way, sweetheart." he says.

Mendez glances up at Jasper's words, tearing his gaze away from the weaponry, and spots the approaching asari. With a grunt, he stands up and lends an arm towards Ehanis.

Ehanis removes her harness, and takes his arm. She pulls herself up, wincing at the pain as she puts pressure on the legs.

Mendez leans down without warning and places his other hand behind the asari's knees, lifting her up effortlessly in both arms. "I'm sure you're gonna be fine." he says, "Make sure the Chief has some transportation set up to bring you home." He slowly steps out of the shuttle and moves to lay her on the stretcher.

Jasper gives a nod. "I'll come pick ya up myself if I hafta!" he says to Ehanis in response to Mendez' statement.

Gren watches silently.

Ehanis gasps at being lifted without any kind of warning. "Can this shuttle even travel this far on its own?" she asks with a smirk.

Jasper tips his hat to the asari. "Only one way to find out!"

Vasquez disappears into the hospital to handle payment and security for Ehanis.

Mendez nods the asari off as he lays Ehanis atop the stretcher. "Let this be a lesson. Grenades are dangerous." he says plainly, as if that wasn't obvious. Maybe a joke.....?

Nathan glances to Jasper, then back to the dashboard. He's electing to remain quiet for the time being.

Ehanis tilts her head. "Uh, of course," she says, looking slightly confused.

Aylena hands a credit chit over to each of the two, and then taps their shoulders. They exchange a few more words before the two takes off towards the hospital entrance. Aylena starts walking back to the shuttle.

Mendez steps back as they make off with Ehanis and uses a handhold to climb back into the shuttle. "All set?" he asks as Aylena returns.

Vasquez notifies the hospital of the situation and arranges for a guard to watch over Ehanis' room until she's ready to leave.

Nathan taps the dashboard. "Shall I make the people back home aware we're still alive?" He asks, itching for something to do.

Jasper gives a shake of his head. "Nah. Not unless the Chief gives the order. Fer' now, we just wait for them to take care a' everything and then get our biscuit-baskets back home."

Nathan sighs and nods, returning to the glorious world of idleness.

Aylena nods. "All set," she says before climbing back into the shuttle. "One of my people got hurt, but I will take care of his hospital bill when I get back."

Gren nods stiffly, leaning against the wall of the shuttle.

Mendez rolls his shoulders as he lowers back into his seat and attempts to get comfortable. "For the record, and I think I can speak for all of us-..." he begins, glancing around the shuttle, "...We don't particularly enjoy rushing blindly into a situation. Had you with-held intel from any other organization, you'd be laid out in the middle of the street back there. I strongly suggest you

Aylena reclaims her seat. "I will explain myself to your employer," she says. "It was necessary to make sure nobody else eavesdropping on you got a chance to track me down with the intel. Although, that being said, they did find me in the end. I will have to investigate that."

Vasquez emerges from the hospital after a while, heading back to the shuttle. Once inside she retakes her seat and nods to the others. "Everything's handled - well, everything I can't do from back home. Let's get out of here."

Mendez folds his arms across his chest. "Sounds good. How is she going to be?"

Jasper nods to himself. "You heard the lady." he says with a glance over to Nathan, "Let's get this show on the road."

Nathan nods to Jasper and seals the doors, glad to have something to do.

Jasper studies the display for a few moments before poking and prodding stuff, it's all very technical, which causes the shuttle to lift up. "We meetin' up with the ship, Chief?" he asks, "Or you arranged another way home?"

Vasquez looks to Jasper. "Back to the ship. Not about to waste free transport." She says with a glance at Gren.

Gren huffs.

Jasper nods once again. "Sound advice." he agrees, setting course for the cargo ship.

Aylena enables her omni-tool and starts tapping away at it, not paying much attention to the others in the shuttle.