'Patient stable, brain waves odd, not interfering with recovery.'

TV leaned over the unconscious Asari on the medical table.

'Very lucky. Reasonable for assassin to assume dead. Even for an Asari, cell regeneration rate impressive.' TV reaches over for the chart from the day time, done by Talvin. 'No change in brain activity. Incongruent waves still exist. Should compare to Boros chart. Wound seals holding. Automated sanitization working properly.' She puts the chart down, walks over to the bench with the partially completed synthetic vocal cords and neural implant system she has been working on. From the other side of the room her mentor's voice rumbles.

"Tiredly: Would you like help with that? Expansion: Upgrades are going at a satisfactory rate and I have the time."

"No. Ensure the med bay is running at peak efficiency and capacity. Suspect it will be getting more use shortly."

"Nervous amusement: This sabbatical has taken quite the turn. Chiding: Plenty of practical experience for your resume."

"Not planning on returning. Vital to operation, much freedom in research. Funding better than university."

"Tired sigh: I suppose."

"You could leave at any time. Why stay? Clearly don't enjoy environment."

"Explanation: I want to ensure my best pupil does not get caught up in the excitement and forgets her medical practitioner's creed. Selfish addition: The frontier is a nice change. More challenges to overcome, victories feel sweeter."

Vortiox goes back to the upgrade he was doing, using his biotics to move equipment and manipulate tools. TV gets involved with the implant, oblivious to her surroundings. She jumps when she realizes a gruff voice is calling her name.

"TV…TV…TV!"

She pulls back her omnitorch, "Captain?"

"What's Juleena's condition?"

"Stable, in a holding pattern. This implant will restore her capabilities."

"How long till she's up?"

"Eight weeks."

"Can't get her up any faster? Lot of upgrades happening around base. We need our top engineer."

TV pauses, pulls up a design on her omnitool. "Conatix Industries model 1321 neural link. Old model developed to enhance human abilities. Can adapt to fit Asari physiology, overdrive already robust cell regeneration." The Batarian narrows a set of eyes and rubs the beard starting to fill in on his jaw. "Recovery shortened to six weeks and she'll be tougher."

Winona pulls back her welding mask, the cold Namakle night air hitting her face. Looking down at the spot she just welded, it works but it doesn't look great. She sighs, strikes it and goes to redo it. As she's double checking her torch she sees Lucia walk in and calls out to her. "Hey, just want to finish this adjustment then getting out of here. This shuttle had a weird drag coefficient during the mass jump. Turns out a panel was a little loose."

The asari engineer rubs her eyes and pours herself some coffee. "Did it get hit on the Citadel?"

"Nah, this is one of the Cerberus ships we got on a mission. That Drell, Ares, lifted it. Haven't had time to properly look it over. Figured I'd get it done before we got busy."

"Makes sense. Not sure what the Batarian has planned but I'll make sure we're stocked. Haven't seen Jorram around in awhile."

"I'm busy, he's busy."

"Uh huh. Anything that needs to be looked at tonight?"

"Just do a once over on the haulers. They've been getting a lot of use. Other than that, you're welcome to try and figure out that Prothean rig Juleena set up for the power grid. If it goes down we're fucked until we get some solar panels out or something."

Lucia gets her gloves and goggles out of her locker, sets her coffee down on a rolling table near herself and begins working on the haulers. Winona finishes her weld, it's much better this time, cleans herself off and heads to the main base.

Winona lights a cigarette and wraps her duster tighter around herself. The cold desert nights on Namakle still catch her off guard. As she walks she replays Nyla's face over and over in her head, thinking back to every bounty board and scumbag she ever saw.

'She can't be a ghost. Enjoys the kill way too much. Sadistic showboater, almost like a data comic villain or something. And Mehrkuri is going to be hard to track. Typical Turian, other than a probably higher than average kill count.'

As she approaches the base she sees Zeelo on night watch, washed in moonlight. He nods, she nods back and enters the base. She moves through the base to the medbay, extinguishing her cigarette outside. As she goes in the door Boros' voice calls out.

"Great! You want to help Juleena?"

"Yes.?" Winona raises an eyebrow.

"Help TV grab this, be discreet. Maybe take out some competition." Boros walks out of the room.

Before Winona can process what happened TV is uncomfortably close and says "Need advanced neural processor to speed recovery of the patient."

"You mean Juleena?"

"Yes. There are no other patients here."

Winona glances around at the mostly empty med bay, Vortiox fussing with a new piece of equipment in the background. "Okay, what do we need?"

"Conatix Industries model 1321 neural link. Outdated, Omega would be a good start." TV walks past her.

Winona's eyes bulge, she lets out a deep sigh, turns on her heel and follows the Salarian.

As they walk down the hallway, Talvin exits from a makeshift lounge area. TV walks past him stating "Borrowing your ship. Need to get supplies for patient."

"Uh um, okay, just uh, make sure you get it back here in one piece. Please."

Winona turns to him as she goes by, "Don't worry I'll make sure she doesn't get too crazy with it." As she's rounding the corner to continue following TV, she adds "If she doesn't bring it back I'll build you a new one!"

It takes a light jog for her to keep up with TV's strides. When they get to the main hangar, Winona sees Kwolski lounging by the scanners, feet up on a console.

"Yo! Kwolski open the doors! We got a Salarian in a hurry."

Kwolski jumps, turns "Aw man! I wanna come! Is this a Suns lead?"

"Nah, just a shopping trip."

"Where to?"

Winona climbs into the cockpit of the Morgan Sunset and begins her startup procedure. "Omega, promise I'll bring you back something good and mildly illegal."

Kwolski smirks and opens the hatch release for the hidden hangar doors.

The fighters scream into atmo, the haze of air particles begins to fade and the sound emulators take over as the vacuum closes in. TV begins calculating the best way to approach the search.

'Wet market not best place to start. Maybe Quarian amp maker? Yes.'

She opens the comm channel.

"Quarian named Ysin in market sector. Creates custom amps. Captain uses one. Good place to start."

"I'm assuming the plan isn't to ask for a custom made implant."

"No. Some of his parts are old. Out of production. Likely to know where one might find the implant."

"Sounds good to me. We friendly with him or did y'all rip him off?"

"Friendly. Advantageous ally to have. Amps, Omni tools and other implants with unknown effects to others. Untraceable. Relay ahead."

The ships hit the Mass Relay and are flung into FTL flight.

They drop out a few kilometers apart from each other at the Omega Relay. Winona's ship console beeps. TV had sent the landing coordinates. The two approach the dock, pay the fee to the dockmaster and head towards the market district. As they approach Winona notices a Turian vendor wave his Krogan security over as they pass and some civilians take a wide berth.

"Thought you said the situation was good here?"

"You asked about Ysin. I answered about Ysin. Blood Eclipse assassins came after Skarr. Naturally, a fight ensued."

Winona nods. "Aaaaa. Got it."

Approaching Ysin's booth they could see that he was busy with customers. Winona sweeps her arm around TV and pushes her into a doorway as one of the mercs begins to turn around. TV sees the same thing Winona did and offers no struggle.

Winona leans her head out and pops back into the doorway.

"Okay, good news, he's not happy they're there. Doesn't seem like a shake down either. You said he's pretty good with this stuff right?"

"Quite."

"He's definitely sandbagging then. Doesn't want the business."

She pokes her head back out to see the Blood Eclipse mercs walking away. Once they round the corner Ysin throws an obscene gesture their way. She nudges TV, they leave the doorway and walk up to the Quarian.

"Ah! It was TV right? Here for a new Omni tool?"

"Not currently. I am in need of something though." She pops open the schematics from her omni-tool, "Conatix Industries mo…"

"…del 1321 neural link. Curious, those Blood Eclipse were looking for a tech to work on a few. What's with the sudden spike in popularity?"

"Unknown motives for them. We need only one unit. For medical reasons."

"Uh huh, uh huh. Tell you what. Recently, the Blood Eclipse took over docking bay 89. I'd gamble you'd find at least a crate of them. Bring the crate to me, I'll make sure they're up to spec and you can take one home. I'll even throw in 3,000 credits per extra unit."

"10,000 per unit."

"I don't pay MSRP. 5,000."

Winona steps forward, "She can just check them herself. We'll take the whole shipment, thanks for the info." She turns to walk away, TV looks at Ysin, then turns to follow her.

"Okay, okay maybe I undershot it a bit. 6,000."

Continuing to walk away, Winona calls back "8,000."

"7,000 final offer!"

Winona stops, cocks her head, turns around and walks back and extends her hand. As she and Ysin shake hands she contendly states "Deal! Winona, by the way."

"I hope to see you and TV soon."

As the pair approaches docking bay 89, TV begins walking ahead of Winona. Less and less people are around as they get closer. The usual crowd noise, ion pulses from engines and occasional distant gunshots fade. This is hostile territory. Rounding a corner TV sees a shuttle guarded by three Blood Eclipse troopers. Two Salarians and a human. She charges her omnitool and sends out an overload signal, continuing to walk forward. Winona, reacting, draws her Sidewinder, pops the writhing human in the head, one of the Salarians in the chest. The other Salarian draws a pistol and fires a round into TV. Her walk is staggered as the round impacts her shield. She recovers, draws her Tempest SMG, the mangled corpse drops as she rakes him.

Seeing TV gunning down the final guard, Winona overdrives her gun's heat sink as she walks up the ramp and lets out a punishing volley. Five Blood Eclipse members dive for cover as the bullets tear into and through their shields. A Turian shields his eyes as debris flies from the wall as bullets impact near him. One of the Asari that had dove towards the floor fires her shotgun as she hits the deck, the hot plasma hits Winona's shields. The Turian grunts, lifts his head and a targeted EMP from his omnitool hits Winona's pistol, jamming it. He takes a follow up shot with his Vindicator, but it misses. Pressing himself against the wall one of the Salarian techs sends out a swarm of nanobots, a tornado surrounds Winona and a panic sets in. Hearing the mechanical buzz of a swarm TV runs up the ramp scanning for targets. Four of the mercs are highlighted on her and Winona's heads up displays. Pressed against the wall one of the Asari sends out a biotic throw towards TV, she coolly sidesteps the pulse. A human trooper that had hit the deck almost immediately lays into the trigger of his Avenger assault rifle. The gun fires uncontrollably and the rounds clang all around TV and Winona but hardly scrape their shields. Lightning arcs from around the corner as the second Salarian sends out an overload, it tears through TV's shield and Winona shakes as the lightning weaves through the nanobot swarm and intensifies. As the shock courses through her body, Winona reaches out and the charge leaps around the swarm of bots, they begin to drop. Focusing on the highlighted targets, Winona fires at the two Salarians, grazing them. The first Asari sends a mass of dark energy towards Winona, she ducks under the ominous ball. The Turian hurls a lance of biotic energy towards TV, she releases a swarm of bots that absorb most of the critical hit and begin to crackle with necrotic energy. The Salarian engineer sends an SMG burst towards Winona, it pings off a crate by her feet, as he draws up a second volley the heat sink overloads and burns his hands. The nanobots around TV begin to encircle her omni-tool arm, necrotic and electrical energy weaving into a sinister eldritch bolt that shoots towards the Turian. A furious scream rings out as he resists going down. Three bolts radiate out from him, frying the two Salarians and the Asari that had tried to throw TV. The human trooper, still prone, fires a concussive shot towards her menacing figure. She sees it coming, dips her shoulder calmly and lets it fly out of the hatch of the shuttle. Winona drops her pistol, draws her Avenger and steels herself. Two controlled shots, the Turian goes down double tapped. A pot shot at the Asari poking her head out from her cover, her biotic barrier shatters. The Asari retaliates with a biotic throw, it hits Winona from the right side, her left leg straining to keep herself upright. TV sends out another overload, the human rolls in agony, the Asari falls to her knees in the open, away from the wall she had been behind. She roars and charges the pair of Namakle vets, slamming her fist into the ground for a nova slam. They manage to keep their footing but the shockwave rattles them both. TV blindly fires an SMG burst as she regains her footing, the rounds rattle into the floor. The human pulls himself up and levels on Winona, a controlled shot tears into her armor jack and knocks the wind out of her. She whips her rifle up, the first shot flies errant, the second hits the trooper center mass. The Asari springs up, a biotic punch heading towards TV. She leans out of the way just in time, the Asari punches a hole in the shuttle wall. TV simply points the barrel of the SMG into the belly of the Asari and lets loose. Blue blood splatters onto the wall and Winona. The human tries to recover and fire two shots at Winona, both deflect off of the low wall she's behind. Blood drips from the brim of Winona's hat, she tightens her lips to keep any from getting into her mouth. A single shot from her rifle to the head of the trooper takes him out. A tense silence.

"I think we're clear."

TV scans the ship again.

"Confirmed."

"Let's grab what we need and get out of here."

The pair sweep the ship, maintaining awareness. Winona reaches a storage room. As she scans the crates she sees apparatuses that look similar to the picture. There's ten in the crate. She comms TV.

"Found what we need. 10 units, so we'll get some profit out of this."

Sparking and clattering on the other side of the comm.

"You good?"

"Found and removed black box. It's encrypted. Can bring to Reeva or Serena for analysis."

"Nice! Also, how would you feel about keeping some of these units. See if we can manufacture them? They're rare right?"

"Yes. Enhancement capabilities are not great compared to other implants. However they are cheap and buyers would be easy to find. Would have to analyze to determine manufacturing capability. Keep five, sell five."

"Alright, I have them loaded up, let's go."

They meet back up at the shuttle entrance, TV with the black box, Winona with the crate. Winona looks around. "Hang on, let me check something." She looks around and finds the console she was looking for. She begins tapping on the keys, brow furrowed in concentration. "Okay, deleted the security footage from when we were here. They'll know someone tampered with it but they at least won't know our faces." She picks the crate up and the pair walks out.

TV looks about as run down as any merc on Omega but Winona gets a few odd stares for the sheer amount of blood she's covered in. At the docking bay they sort out the storage of the units between the two ships, Winona also leaves her duster so there's less visible blood on her. They return to the market and complete the exchange. Returning to Namakle, Winona keeps four of the neural units at Gamma for Lucia and the other engineers to study, TV brings the fifth to the med bay. She sets it aside and returns to working on the synthetic voice box, the final implant needed for Juleena's surgery.