[Citadel] War Stories in Purgatory (closed)

Stefan had never been particularly fond of Purgatory but it had seemed to be a favored nightclub for Elise, and plus it was the only place whose location he was sure they both knew. It wasn't a bad club, per se, but he had forgotten that it could remind him of the War and its preferred clientele back then; the kind of people who made him want to puke. They were hiding and pretending nothing was wrong, boozing and dancing, while people on Earth and Palaven died. They couldn't cope with reality and had to build a lie for themselves. Well, reality came crashing in soon enough, and for that kind of person the game was up. Couldn't try to pretend the Reapers weren't there when husks were tearing down your door. Maybe it was a little better now, then; the people here were all survivors. Some of them might have been lucky enough not to run into any Reapers, but at least there was no longer a war for them to pretend never happened.

He had to hand it to the owners, the place seemed pretty changeless in spite of the War. For all their power, not even the Reapers could stamp out bad music and worse dancing. He sipped his drink idly while scanning the entrance for Elise. It was good whiskey.

Hard to believe it'd been a year since the War. Sometimes it seemed like a lot longer and sometimes it seemed like yesterday. Today felt like the latter. Same bar, meeting the same person. But under better circumstances. Well, she seemed a little distraught in the message, so maybe things weren't too good - but anything was better than the War.

Elise entered Purgatory, scowling at the fact that, even after a whole year, they were still playing terrible music. Then again, a couple of the clubs back on Omega had played worse, so it wasn't too bad. She wasn't wearing heavy armor like she usually would in a place like this, but that was only because it was the Citadel and not Omega. Looking around, she noticed Ubranski and quickly closed the distance, glaring at him the entire time.

"I can't believe you, Stefan. Haven't seen you for a year, and when we arrange to meet, I find you sitting here waiting for me, and you're already drinking?" Her expression softened into a smile as she took a seat.

"Good to see you didn't kick it back on Earth." The bartender had come over to ask her what she wanted to drink, and Elise easily turned him away. It was just a tad early to start drinking right now, especially after last night's binge.

"So? How's life?"

He leaned back and grinned at Elise. "Well, you said you were buying, so I figured I'd start early. It's good to see you."

Urbanski remembered the fighting back in London, desperate and frenzied and nightmarish as it had been. Even though so much had been going on at once, he still recalled the whole experience firmly. Probably because he knew as he was fighting that the fate of the galaxy was on their shoulders. "That was a rough drop. It's good to see you in one piece. Last I saw back there, you were tearing through husks right as the Reapers came down. I was thinking maybe you'd black out or something, I didn't know an amp could take that kind of punishment for so long." Taking another sip, he added, "I've been busy. Not the kind I'm used to though. I've been shifted to intel work these days. It was a unit Greene set up. Mostly desk work but I still get to go into the field." Maybe back in the field more often after what went down on Eden Prime. Or maybe just faced with more paperwork.

He raised an eyebrow, "How about you? Still doing merc jobs with that turian?"

Elise cringed slightly at the mention of her actions back in London. Sure, she'd defied a lot of odds, but in the end the odds had beaten her quite harshly.

"I guess I was, wasn't I? And I almost did black out. That Lyons guy pulled me out after my amp burned out." Elise quickly thought back to that man. He'd pulled her out of the fire on Veratix as well as London. She'd have to try to find out if he'd survived the war. Wasn't to big on the priority list. As stefan continued, Elise felt herself chuckle.

"Not to fond of doing desk work, I take it?" And then came the awkward question.

"How about you? Still doing merc jobs with that turian?"

"No. Trakeus and I... We split after Veratix. Last I checked on him, he was looking for work on Omega... I was there looking for work as well, but I... I needed a change of scenery." Elise cleared her throat and called the bar tender, ordering a heavy drink.

Raising his eyebrow and regretting bringing the subject up at all, Urbanski said "Good idea. I never got why anyone'd stay in that hellhole voluntarily." Omega - what a fuckin' dump. He guessed it was a decent place for a mercenary to get some dirty, high paying contracts, but otherwise what was the point if you had the credits to get out? What else was there to do, stay and lord your relative wealth over some vorcha? He shrugged and took another sip of his drink. Maybe he liked civilized society too much.

"Desk work's... fine, I suppose. Yeah, all things considered. It's important work. It's a pay raise. I can sleep in my apartment every night. It was preferable to staying assigned to reconstruction on Earth. It's just... again, it's not what I'm used to. Last I had worked with military intelligence it was...deep assignments," he said, being vague but just enough that it didn't mask the gist of what he did - covertly taking out pro-Hegemony figures on Anhur was hardly what he was doing now. "They still send us out but not as much. Enough that you need to keep from getting lazy. It's a good gig, all things considered."

A thought struck him. "If you're looking for work, you could contact the Alliance, tell 'em you worked with me before. The Alliance would be a change of pace for you, but we do have some people who used to be in your line of work there." He said in reference to Cerberus.

At Stefan's reccomendation to "rejoin" the Alliance, Elise chuckled.

"I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll stay away from the Alliance for a good while. No offense to yourself, of course, but I don't think I'll be taking your offer for a good while. Too much bad blood." Elise' drink had finally showed up, and she took a small sip from it, grateful at the burning feeling in her throat.

"Omega's actually not as bad as you'd think. You'd be surprised at how many people there actually are on that station, but it's good to hear you haven't become some dull as hell desk jockey."

"Be a cold day in Hell before I let that happen," he chuckled. "Omega's bad enough. Been there a couple times and it's probably gotten no better since. Bet most of the people there would buy a ticket out if they had the money. All the vorcha, anyway. But at least folks there are open about what they do, I'll give them that."

Urbanski shrugged. "You'd be surprised at how little bad blood matters nowadays. The Alliance really got pushed through the grinder in the War and they'll take just about any human being who's got prior combat experience. Biotics doubly so." He paused and took a long sip of whiskey. "So just keep the offer in mind."

Leaning forward, he said, "Now, uh, just out of curiosity, you said in your message you owed me an apology and an explanation... What was that all about?"

"Back on Earth, I acted a little... harshly. My memory was a bit fuzzy at that time, and I couldn't remember things easily. I'm fine now. Doc said it was due to the trauma I suffered on Veratix. Fragmentation or something like that. Big word. Can't be bothered to remember it, but you didn't deserve that. Especially not during all that." Elise took another drink before considering Ubranski's offer. Work would be nice, but she knew the Alliance, and she knew what it had recently become.

"I'll consider it, but don't expect me to do anything with it. I like being free. Unlike the Alliance. Nothing but regulations and rules. That, and my cybernetics aren't exactly regulation material, let alone the modifications to my arm, but I'll consider it." Elise looked at her drink. Half empty, or half full? Didn't matter. She took another sip, eyes set on the alliance man.

He sipped his drink and grinned a little. "Don't worry about it. I don't recall it too well anyway. Probably because of all that went down in London that night." Given what was on the line, being less than sociable that day was understandable.

"Figured you still preferred the merc trade but thought I'd put the offer on the table."

"The offer was appreciated, but joining the Alliance? Again? Not gonna happen. At least with mercenary work you only gotta worry about two kinds of rules," To emphasize, Elise put up one finger for each time she made a point. "Those set by your contractor and/or employer. And those of the area you're working in." Elise took another drink, noticing her drink to be half-empty. Or half-full. Hell at this point it could have been inside-out or upside-down for all she cared.

"Alliance just has too many rules and regulations to follow. It's not for me," Elise honestly laughed, not being able to resist. "Besides, looks like the Alliance is causing enough trouble on it's own without my help, but maybe I'll consider your offer sometime down the road." If things went right for her, Elise would be back on familiar soil.

"So before talk of work kills the mood, any plans for the future?" The woman looked relaxed and content, more-so than she'd been in a very long time. Socialization was a wonderful when you had a reliable friend to talk to and a nice drink.

"Well, we'll keep those requirements in mind whenever we think about contracting you," he smiled as she want on about regulations - true as her complaints were. It wasn't much of a sarcastic remark, either. He wouldn't be surprised if the Alliance would want to contract a veteran mercenary in the future with some dirty work to be done and barely any rules to follow while doing it. He kept his mouth shut at her mention of the Alliance's own trouble making, his own emotions on the subject decidedly mixed - the colonies, at the very least, should not be allowed independence - but he could not agree with the dissolution of the Earth governments, nations which had stood for centuries.

He shrugged. "Hard to tell, right now. I've got a secure little position and right now I guess all we can do is keep the peace and watch how events unfold." He took a sip and rolled his eyes. "Just...staying the course and making sure I'm ready for any curve balls life or my CO throws at me. It sounds boring compared to the old days, but there you go. I'm just catching my breath now, I suppose. I've finally finished my move to the Citadel so that's a big change of pace." He looked around. "I mean, I'm used to it now, but it took some getting used to. Nothing natural, no nights, no seasons, no weather, no planet beneath your feet. It's odd. Took a while to get used to once I realized I was staying here long-term. Funny when you consider how much of my time before this I've spent on ships or on space stations or, hell, the Citadel. Never bothered me then. I guess I never thought I'd live on one, I'd always have my home on a planet. But then all that changed." The War changed a lot of things. After London he returned in victory to discover he had no fiance, no immediate family, and a burnt-out shell of a home. It did take some getting used to. He nodded towards her, "What about you?"

"I've never been one for staying in one place for too long. Stayed on ships before the Reapers, and during that I just kept moving. Now I'm staying on the Citadel, trying to decide where my next stop is. Never been able to stay in one place for too long. Just can't stand it, you know? Don't really have anyone to rely on but myself and the few friends I have left" Unlike everyone else in the galaxy, Elise couldn't blame the Reapers for her family dying. That had sort of happened on it's own, and to be perfectly honest, Elise didn't mind. She'd never been entirley close with her family. She hadn't quite pushed them out of the picture, but she hadn't exactly kept them very close, either. Looking at her hand, she found she'd finished her drink a while ago, but didn't bother ordering another. Not yet, at least.

"Galaxy hasn't changed too much, has it? Other than the fact that the Krogan are around a bit more... and the Geth..." Elise's decision on the topic of Krogan and Geth were mixed. She neither hated them, or liked them.

"When you're SF and the galaxy's as fucked up as it is, you don't have to stay in one place for too long." Thinking it better to move on, he just leaned forward and said - "Well, if ever you want to be able to rely on more than just a few people, my offer still stands. I think my department will be able to better appreciate the skills you learned with your previous employer." After all, both of its commanding officers were former Cerberus members.

The Geth. Urbanski rolled his eyes. "Man, don't get me started on those assholes. Fuckin' flashlights give me the creeps. I saw one the other day and the way he looked at me - did you fight them, five years ago? I mean, they give you the same look now as they would on Eden Prime back then." He hadn't been on Eden Prime when the Geth hit, he had been part of the force that countered Geth aggression at Feros and the Armstrong Cluster. "At least with a Batarian you can get a good idea what the asshole's thinking." He shook his head. "Well, except for..." He counted the changes on his fingers: "Geth are our friends now, Krogan are rid of that genophage, Bucketheads can finally stop whining about not having a home but probably will anyway, and Batarians have a crazy totalitarian religious government instead of a crazy totalitarian fascist one." He grunted. "Yeah, I'd say the galaxy's about the same. It's still run by fuck-ups and everyone still hates vorcha." He finished his glass and smiled.

Urbanski decided to steer discourse away from current events. Eying the bottom of his empty glass, he said "So, lemme ask you this: worst assignment you've ever had?"