[Citadel, Tayseri] Leaving the Ducts Charity Dinner (Open to all)

Sarah turned to Paul and gestured off at Michelle. "Yeah, you can stay here if you want. Drink plenty, eat hearty, have fun. I'm just going to see what's going on. Nothing serious, it's just a break-in. Someone's trying to make a quick buck." She grabbed her elbow and tried to put on a reassuring smile. Paul sighed and stepped away, muttering something under his breath.

Sarah turned to Laykalar.

"I'll follow you, kid. The LTD offices? Do you want me to take a rapid-transit there or are we going to walk?"

“Hm, I don’t think that’s what the Assemblyman said. Wouldn’t ‘bringing military talent to the Citadel’ be just the same as hiring mercenaries under the table. I do like the idea of Citadel citizens deciding for themselves and having the same basic right of raising a security force in principle. What about making entry only eligible for someone living on the Citadel for a certain amount of time, like a couple of years? That would rule out short term interested mercenaries?” She was looking at Max to see how he would take her point.

“I am fairly sure, most, if not all species can contribute to a common military effort. In fact, working together in mixed cadres is strengthening the community sense of all species. That’s something the asari always would be positive about and mixed units would be in the true spirit of the Citadel Charta.” C-Sec was built under the same regulations and almost every species was represented.

She knew from feedback from the CME program though that other species, most notably humans to no surprise, often weren’t too keen to integrate with other species in military formations. Even krogans were easy to work with in comparison, she thought with a sigh.

"I said military talent, not hired guns or shell shocked basket cases Arina. My apologies for not drawing the distinction clearer for you," Alystae replying with aplomb, but the eyes telling the story, cool with a touch of contempt as she waited for Max the Maverick to elaborate.

Kayana had screwed up her brows. She shouldn't be arguing with these people but it just didn't make sense. "Am I like, missing something? The Citadel's equivalent to one medium-smallish city, and it has some spaceyards, but really. I mean, Omega's at least a mine. We can't actually produce a fleet. Wouldn't this antagonize the people who can?"

Max cleared his throat, shifting his weight awkwardly as he felt the animosity the one Asari directed at the other. He tried not to miss a beat, launching into a reply to both their points. This night was quickly turning into quite the political work-out for him.

"Training would be a big hurdle, I won't lie. We would need to bring in advisers from other Citadel member-states to train the initial force, but that would be only temporary as we got CDEF set up. Over time, as it gained more experience, it would become fully self-sufficient and be able to train its own recruits. We wouldn't be bringing in military talent on a permanent basis, and it wouldn't just be random mercenaries, as Arina clarified for me." He smiled thankfully at the diplomat before continuing. "It would be allies, helping us to become more independent."

"As for who could join, I see absolutely no reason to restrict what species could enlist. As long as someone is a law-abiding citizen or permanent resident of the Citadel, they should be able to join CDEF. There should be no discrimination on that front. Again, as Arina pointed out, we don't want to attract a mercenary element and I've written clauses into the bill to discourage and prevent that from happening. We want this to be a unifying force for the Citadel itself, not a magnet for hired guns."

Max turned and smiled in a parental manner at Kayana. "The Citadel had well over 13 million people before the war started my dear. And now we have the refugee influx added onto that. That's bigger than most colonies out in the Traverse. The events of the last few years have proven we can't be too careful. And I'm not talking about producing a fleet; the Citadel Fleet and our 'new neighbors' in the Alliance can take care of that. This is about protecting the inside of the station itself. Supplementing C-SEC and preventing another sneak attack like the Geth, Cerberus, and the Reapers were all able to undertake."

Michelle was still worried, but she had a job to do. She took the stage again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I will now invite our first guest speaker here. This is someone who knows very well what tonight is about, for he grew up in the Citadel's ducts himself. He was one of the few to make it out of this life and went to create his own successful company. He agreed to come tonight to tell us about his experience. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the CEO of Single Order Solution, mister Davril Wilde!"

Michelle started clapping, as humans apparently loved to do, as Davril and Pariah found themselves in the spotlight.

"Alright, time to put the countermeasures to the test", Snow muttering as he ducked down by the planter near the elevator. Adrenaline still pumping, he calmed himself by bringing up the camera feeds. Spotting one turian in the waiting hall, keeping watch, Snow switched over to the feed into Miss Rondor's office and there he was, Durix himself at Miss Rondor's personal computer, attempting to get the master list of duct rats from the looks of it. Zooming in, Snow saw that Kayana's security was holding firm. Snow let out a breath of relief before considering his options. Entry through the window was out, he'd get killed before taking a step, and using the front door was out. "Divide and conquer it is", Snow thought as he brought up the countermeasure control suite, deciding with the temporary blackout, "let the games begin", an almost gleeful smile creasing Snow's features as he input the code, giving him a half minute of darkness in the apt to use.

"Check outside, we're not alone", the turian known as Durix calling out to the lookout as the apt went dark. The other turian nodding in acknowledgement before exiting, leaving the one time Armiger Legionnaire alone in Miss Rondor's office, his attempt to steal the duct rat roster on hold as he fondled his knife grip in anticipation. The only reason Durix even agreed to the job was simple, Boss Zahir gave him a secondary task in addition to the theft, if the red bastard, otherwise known as Julian Snow were to show, Durix was to kill the meddling do-gooder, and collect the 2500 credit bounty on his head. The thought of getting his hands on the spirits damned ex-marine who had caused so much trouble got Durix's blood pumping, money didn't matter to him, but the human showed promise as a fighter. "At least you're not boring boy, don't disappoint now", Durix musing as he called up the foot soldier at the entrance, with silence in reply. Smiling, Durix now knew for certain, Julian Snow was here...

Maintaining his crouch, Snow heard footsteps, glancing around he saw a turian, just not Durix. This one was taller and skinny, but still dangerous as Snow ducked back into cover, noting the pistol in his coat along with a civilian grade kinetic barrier on his hip. "C'mon, closer", the red hood thinking as he braced himself, waiting for the LTE goon to stop by the elevator before attacking, vaulting over the planter, Snow's boots hitting the turian in the knee. Not waiting for the ganger to recover, the red hood adopted a full mount position, a punch to the right eye and an elbow to the bridge of a turian's equivalent of a nose finished the job, but not before the ganger let a cry of surprise creep out. Cursing silently, Snow grabbed the pistol, a second hand Predator, moving to the side of the entrance, the red hood knowing Durix would be coming...

Laykalar had never visited the depths of the Encompassing. His life prior to leaving home on this wondrous mission of discovery was confined to the shallow banks of his birth, with occasional journeys out into open water. He had heard that in the deeper chasms there was a chance that you would become disorientated, that down in the murkiest depths it was possible to lose yourself, to be overcome by the sense of pressure and succumb to a Wordless panic. He wondered if what he was feeling now was in some way similar. It was as though a terrible sense of impending disaster hung over him. Was this, he wondered, how those like Justicar felt on a permanent basis? It was very unpleasant.

All around him was colour and movement, the swirl of a human female's dress, the gesticulations of an enthusiastic salarian male, the VI of the learned Caelax of Palaven dispensing snippets of her theorem on service to a pair of volus. All of it was an assault on his senses. There was so much chaos. But through these churning waves was created the foam of personal and cultural growth. New arguments could be conceived of, new perspectives brought into play. That was the purpose with which the Word had been Enkindled within his people, that they might better themselves and aspire to the wisdom of the divine. The interaction of so many people of such varied species and backgrounds was a triumph, one he would never tire of admiring. He remembered his attendance at the drell cultural festival some months prior, how reassured he had been by the ease with which the Citadel's population had embraced the potential for growth and learning! He had made the right choice in coming here. Which was to say, he corrected himself humbly, that the scholarly community aboard Greater Encompassing had made the correct choice. Why then was his approach considered so troubling to them? He had brought these people together tonight.

They were his responsibility.

The sense of panic spiked.

He considered the learned Rondor's anecdote, mulling over its wisdom. She was telling him that his approach was just as legitimate as the alternative, and had its own advantages. He had believed that himself, very much so, with every experience strengthening the assumption. Shouldn't that be enough? Or were her words, balanced and intelligent as he perceived them to be, not adequate to his elders because she wasn't a hanar? He didn't understand how those so dedicated to understanding the ways of others - and how the Primacy might learn from their growth - could be so dismissive.

Another announcement: it was time for one of their guest speakers. He would have been thrilled - this was a key opportunity for illumination, one he wished his elders had stayed to experience - but instead he grasped at it with desperate relief, like a polyp dislodged from its parent in open ocean. With everyone settled and attentive again, it would be a good time to quietly go about fixing that which was broken. Before it was too late.

"This one cannot allow anything to go wrong!" he pulsed to Sarah.

While other species could hear (and in the elcor's case, also smell) their own communications and moderate themselves accordingly, hanar could not view their own luminescence absent a reflective surface. For that reason, Laykalar was unaware that the translator was only just keeping up, its efforts to form words out of the less-than-well-controlled shimmers and flashes a task indeed.

Given his common mood of sheer relentless enthusiasm, perhaps the human wouldn't have noticed anything odd. Then again...

"This one suggests making a brief circuit of the hall first, to ensure nothing else is immediately problematic. While the others are engrossed with Mr. Wilde's speech, these ones can take their leave".

He would need to trust that his friend Snow would - as the humans said - have a grip on the situation.

Taleeze had moved to the back a bit with her friend Daia to exchange the latest stories about the motorcycle parts and to be closer to the food buffet. She wasn't very informed about Citadel politics so she could not contribute anyway. When Michelle took the stage again she lokked up and when the spotlight fell on the turian-quarian couple Taleeze let out a surprised gasp, while applauding.

"Look at that, that's Kari'Zar! I wonder how I could have overlooked her!" Maybe she had kept to the back as well, Taleeze knew Pariah usually didn't like large crowds. and she seemed to be the companion of this Davril Wilde! Taleeze raised an eyebrow. "Remember, I told you about the dance-off at BlueShift last time. C'mon, lets say hello!"
She took Daia's ellbow and moved around the table and closer to the tall quarian...

Kari sighed when she heard the human call Davril's name and brought the entire attention of the entire restaurant on them. Yet another annoyance tonight. Davril, noticing her attitude gave her the turian approximation of a smile and simply said "Don't worry, dear", before stepping away from their table and heading to the podium nodding at Michelle as he did so. Leaving the exile to alone to notice Daia and Taleeze coming towards her.

She sighed yet again and wished she could shrink away...

***

"Hello and good evening ladies and gentlemen. I am glad to be here speaking to you and I am glad to see so many people here share the same passion I do. I would also like to think our gracious hosts for allowing Leaving the Ducts to host this event", he said still smiling as he nodded at Quylid who was still glowering behind its counter. "And while that's true. I have to admit that I am not very eloquent. So..." He looked at Kari and smiled again. "So. I will be having my wonderful partner do the speaking for me."

***

Kari glared at Davril as she slowly got up and walked to the stage. Sending Taleeze a small, barely noticeable look that could have easily been a plea a for help.

But she was quick to adapt and staring at the crowd she began, "Hello everyone. As you just heard my 'partner' was a duct rat and this has, as you may have noticed from staring at him. Was not an easy life. Such lives usually aren't. They are cold, brutal, and are often tragically short. Not even accounting for those that would take advantage of them such as crimelords who recruit them for their own purposes. And while Mr. Wilde has been very charitable to such children, including even adopting a wonderful daughter, he simply cannot adopt and care for duct rat on this station. No matter how much he wants to. Which is why he supports LTD and its message full-heartedly. We need more people that care for these ,and all disadvantaged children, and less things like the Compact in the galaxy. Thank you."

With that, she stepped off the stage and started walking back to her seat. Giving Davril one last glare as she did so.

It was perhaps a sign of how distracted Laykalar was that he didn't really notice who was talking - nor that she had brought up the Compact. That last point could have reduced him to a shuddering mass of nerves. As it was, he was focusing as hard as he could - through the strange shroud his thoughts seemed to have become - on the part of the room he had now reached. Trailing him were Sarah and Justicar, the former by agreement, the latter by whatever whims moved her.

Daia hadn't wanted to clutter up the political discussion, and had snuck away for a moment to investigate the VIs, returning in time to join Taleeze by the buffet and catch up on each other's latest news.

She joined in the applause at Michelle's announcement, with a little more enthusiasm than 'polite guest' levels. It had been Davril's remark, back on the forum, that had clued her in on a useful little loophole in Illium travel expense law: travel for non-profit fundraising and charitable causes could only be registered as a business expense if it related to charities operating or based on Illium itself, but CEOs and other board-level executives could claim practically anything under 'conferencing', so long as there was at least one other board member of a non-subsidiary company at the 'conference'. No doubt whoever drew up that particular portion of the regulations enjoyed 'conferencing' at luxury resorts no questions asked, but it served its purpose now.

Her eyes widened in surprise when Taleeze identified Davril's partner - she hadn't known the two were an item. Perhaps it wasn't public forum knowledge, or she may just have missed it; in any case, she joined in the quick round of 'welcome' clapping when Davril abruptly surrendered the stage to Kari.

"I remember, yes," she nodded to Taleeze when the quarian's brief speech was over. "I got a full commentary from Skylar too, I'm sorry I missed that event. Lead on by all means."

Continuing towards her seat (and still giving Davril the mother of all deathglares) Kari noticed Daia and Taleeze, sighed, looked at the asari and simply said. "You recognized me didn't you?"

"Well stated Assemblyman", was the observation from Alystae as the assemblyman finished his explaination. Despite her wariness about pols in general, the Co-op chief was impressed by Max Vallario. He stepped into the fire and didn't miss a beat for a sec, not even when Alystae and Arina were exchanging barbs. Agree with him or not, the assemblyman was ready for all comers, and knew how to make a case. "This boy might be worth a closer look", thinking as she finished the water. "It appears another guest speaker is about to take the floor, but rest assured Assemblyman Vallario, your constituents will be watching your career with interest," teasing the erudite turian as she watched the rather impromtu speech with amusement.

Once the speech finished Alystae fixed her attention on Kayana Pesh, the drell calling the citadel a 'medium' sized city, "medium compared to what kid?" A slightly patronising smile on the asari's face before responding, "13 million isn't medium sized kiddo, where I used to live on earth, Norfolk had only 900,000. That is medium sized for a city in this day and age. And the citadel isn't just another city, it's come under assault three different times in 5 years. A defense militia is very much needed, nothing was mentioned of a fleet."

Durix slid against the wall by the entrance door upon hearing the scuffle outside, knowing that his other foot soldier was down. Unsheathing his blade his free hand hit the door panel, seeing an empty hallway in front of him. If in Snow's position Durix would be waiting at the entryway, ready for a snatch and grab. Sliding to the other side of the door frame, the Beast of Armiger checked the entryway, still no sign of Snow, "what the hell???" Now Durix was at a loss, did Snow retreat and call for reinforcements or C-Sec? Slowly edging into the hallway, Durix checked the area, seeing his subordinate down near the elevator, and a black and red blur coming at his left...

Snow slammed into the turian, driving him back into Leaving the Ducts, having lost the pistol, opting instead for a blitz play. He had set up on the other end of the hall, waiting for Durix to leave his post and check the area, then ambush the fucker. So far so good, Snow thinking as he drove Durix inside, punching the LTE enforcers wrist in an attempt to disarm him. The turian adopting a sprawl position in retaliation, elbowing Snow in the back repeatedly. The human responding with punches to the inside of his legs and knees, trying to create seperation. "He's not like the other gutter trash, he's for real", the painful realization apparent to Snow, the red hood shedding his jacket for quicker movement as Durix kicked at the inside of his thigh, Snow hitting him in the temple as the two brawlers began to tear LTD apart, Durix using his speed to close with Snow, driving him into the kitchen with a flurry of punches and kicks, the red hood trying to work the turian's body with varied success, the two combatants were both smiling, the list and gala gone from both of their minds.

"You piece of fucking shit!" Durix snarling as Snow slammed him against the counter, hitting the side of his head with an elbow. The turian retaliating with a water pitcher to the side of the red hood's face, making Snow stagger as they circled each other, catching a breather, Snow gripping a frying pan, Durix another pitcher...the two enforcers hitting each other simultaneously as the lights came back on. The Red Hood bleeding from his eyelid and cheek, Durix sporting a cut on his right jawline from the scuffle in the hall as the fight resumed, the sounds of their brawl heard in the hallway....

All Laykalar could think about - besides the sense that he was floating disoriented in a churning sea of noise and colour; he would need to have a long talk with Justicar about the mindfish - was the sense that in leaving the hall he was making an error. What if some manner of problem occurred, and he wasn't there to deal with the consequences? His absence would be disgraceful! Nothing else could be allowed to go wrong, not when so much was depending on a successful conclusion to the evening, and the guests' satisfaction. He hadn't found anything problematic on his rounds, though, and he was increasingly worried about Snow. He hadn't received any additional messages, and surely Snow would have arrived at the office by now. How much worse would it be if the security breach was left unresolved because he had been neglectful? Especially when Sarah had already offered to help.

He pulsed in alarm; what should he do? Was it time to leave?

A drell waiter approached them, elegantly carrying a plate with a sculpted dessert resembling (at Laykalar's earlier request) the face of Michelle Rondor with the legend "No Child Should Live In Ducts!" scrawled in five languages upon it with icing. "May this one be of assistance, sir?" said the drell discretely in its gravelly voice. He leaned in. "The other appears... less than stable". Living among hanar as he did, this drell knew what he was seeing.

"The other should follow this one" said Laykalar loudly, suddenly deciding he needed more support. "The other's attendance is very important".

"Of course, sir". With a respectful nod, still carrying the dessert expertly in one hand, the drell began to trail him.

Sarah moved up front and gave him what he recognized as a meaningful look. She was always so quick to want to help, and he knew she was more than ready to leave.

Yes. They wouldn't be gone long.

"These ones will attend to the break in now, in case Mr. Snow should require backup. This one is fearful that the problem may be worse than anticipated".

As they moved toward the exit, Laykalar trying to be discrete and largely failing, he passed an asari talking in bemused fashion to the Uncle Garm Garm VI.

Blisfully unaware of what was happening back at the offices, Michelle applauded Pariah's speech. She was surprised the mysanthropic quarian would actually take the stand, but even though her speech was dry and laconic, people could tell she meant every word. It was generally well received, although short.
The public was mostly confused about who she was exactly. She hadn't even introduced herself! Michelle smiled at that. Yeah that was Pariah alright...

She made her way to the little group around Vallario. He had a surprising pull.

"Thank you for talking, I really liked what you said", she only said to Pariah.

"Uncle Garm Garm" had retrieved four of the balls from the pool around the stage, and was juggling them in entertaining fashion as he related a warmly instructive tale regarding the value of charity.

"For you see, that was when Bereh'Nard the Boisterous Batarian realized that the problem was worse than he had initially thought it was, because all that hard work he'd put in was going to be wasted! You can imagine how heartbroken he was..."

"Well, rest assured that this assemblyman will be watching the career of a certain constituent with interest as well." He smirked as arched a browplate suggestively. "And if you ever have a issue you want to bring forward, my door is always open. Perhaps we can schedule a lunch meeting sometime to discuss things further, or perhaps dinner instead?"

Max might have been pushing his luck here, but c'mon, he had to at least try. A tapped-in local businessperson and community organizer who seemed supportive of his CDEF plan, and just happened to be an attractive Asari? He had heard an old saying from humans once: Who dares, wins. It was good advice. Got him elected after all.

Taleeze had been really surprised to see Pariah get on a stage. When she returned, she was even more surprised to see the quarian heading for her and Daia. Davril caught quite the glare – as far as Taleeze could judge that with a quarian but this glare was up in the regions of what Ana was capable of.

“Hey, yes, I only saw you when the spot was turned on. I had a good view last time and you’re not one who’s easily forgotten.” She was approaching Kari with her usual slightly exuberant manner, both arms open ready for an embrace… she redirected in virtually the last second, to only grab and quickly press Kari’s hands.

“May I introduce you to my best friend, Daia T’Nara, I don’t think you ever met.” She looked over at Davril and back again.

“I had no idea you could be at such an event and with Mr. Wilde over there on top of that.” she suggestively raised an eyebrow as she wasn’t sure how the relationship between the two was really.