Sirius and the Citadel Thread 2: Why so Sirius? (ME/Freelancer)

[SharkGlue]

Waking up in her own bed for the first time in what felt like years certainly did wonders for Aela. She felt like she could take on the world. It rather made her feel a little guilty having Perkins sleep on the couch, but she wasn't going to be sharing a bed with him. She wanted to maintain at least some form of employer-employee barrier.

Though… if she could use it to mess with Talia, that might be worth a little teasing. She'd have to get Perkins in on it of course, to make it look convincing but it could work.

Still, seeing that according to her clock it was rather early in the morning, she got up out of bed to get ready for her undoubtedly long trip away from her home again. Grabbing her large travel pack reserved for long term trips, she proceeded to pack her usual dig gear. Her shield and Elkoss combine pistol were the first in. While she may have been capable of putting up a barrier, having a shield never hurt as an extra layer of protection. She figured Perkins' own gun was better than hers too, but still. Better safe than sorry. Her various tools and dig outfits were up next, and finally, she carefully packed in an elegantly simple white dress, reserved for the inevitable begging for funding from various sponsors.

It was while packing her dress that she realized that she had no food for any visiting aliens. Thessian food had a considerably higher than safe level of eezo for non-biotics in them, and she hadn't informed Perkins of that. Deciding to rectify that mistake, she moved out of her room to find Perkins already up and about eating from a tube.

"Good morning," he greeted as he stopped eating. "I see you've finally woken up."

"It's barely sunrise, and you're saying I woke up late?"

"I may have left the Armed Forces, but they haven't left me yet." he said after a brief chuckle. "Care for some SynthPaste? It's a lot better than it looks I assure you. I was about to sample some of your goods in the cupboard, but I wasn't exactly sure if it would be safe for me to eat. I mean, just because you can eat what I can eat doesn't mean I can eat what you can, right?"

Aela just sighed a little in relief after learning that. It wouldn't do for Perkins to get eezo poisoning. If it was anything like what happened with other species, it was a nasty way to go. Though…

"SynthPaste? As in the company?" she asked

"Yeah. Totally edible and tasty food. Great for rations, as they have all the necessary nutrients, and don't actually taste like shit." Perkins exclaimed. "I'm almost sure you had some before back in the Sirius sector. You did, right?"

"Sorry, I don't think I did," she replied. "Anything exotic about it? Artificial flavoring, colouring and all that?"

"Not really. It's just ground up genetically modified kelp that SynthPaste somehow manages to change flavors without modifying the kelp strain or add any chemicals. I'm pretty sure it's safer than a lot of things you've had in the Sirius sector. It's certainly safer than Liberty ale."

"If you say so…" she said as she very hesitantly grabbed the tube of paste and carefully squeezed a pea sized morsel on her finger. She then very gently brought the dab into her mouth.

"Sausage?" she exclaimed after taking another larger sample to be sure.

"You can hardly taste the difference, yeah?" Perkin said a he grabbed another tube from his pack. "You can have that one by the way."

"Amazing." Aela said after slowly letting this batch settle on her tongue for awhile. "How do they do it?

"Like I said, I dunno, but whatever they're doing, God I hope they continue. It's a lot better than my usual rations. They have thousands of flavors from the most exotic to the most bland, and near everyone loves it. I can't imagine it not doing well."

Aela mulled over this. If it was this good, then SynthPaste was going to quickly make a killing in Citadel space. She quickly bought up her OmniTool, and after doing quick check on her accounts, let herself have a rather predatory grin.

"That smile of yours could be good or bad. I'm not sure which." Perkins commented.

"It just occured to me that, well. If SynthPaste can arrange itself a wide variety of flavors now, what more when they start mimicking others?"

"I'm not sure I follow."

"At first it'll be human tastes, but eventually, they'll be capturing Asari tastes, Batarian spices, all of it in one convenient package for travel between planets."

"...Then they'll really start to make a killing." Perkins breathed out. "I'd best be buying stock then while it's low. I mean, creds are good and all, but if I'm not under a steady salary, it pays to have a little bit tucked away for a rainy day, right?"

"Perkins, when you've lived as long as I have, you learn a trick or two." Aela said with a neat smile as she had her brokering program prepare to purchase a lot of SynthPaste shares. If she was lucky, maybe she'll be able to fund her own expeditions with this particular little bit of wisdom from the humans.

___

The rest of the morning was spent just watching the various programs available on the screen, though nothing in particular really grabbed Perkins attention outside the news, though to be fair, it was rather early in the morning. By noon, they got a message from Talia that things were good to go on their end, and expected them to meet her within the hour. Aela naturally grabbed her things and led the way to the nearest fast transit point.

"Are you excited?" Aela asked Perkins, as they flew through the city in the aircar.

"For what?" Perkins replied, taking his eyes off the view of the city.

"For seeing another new planet, I mean."

"It's a yes and no kind of thing," he admitted after a while. "On one hand, it's another brand new planet, and from the way you describe it, it sounds like a virtual melting pot of cultures. On the other, I've had hardly a day to even get a feel for this planet. It's hardly enough time to even begin to get a sense for it."

"Sense?"

"You know, every place has a flavor to it. A kind of something that distinguishes its people rom everything else. Even stations have that kind of culture to an extent."

"Take New London, center of Bretonnian culture. Most everyone there works a government job and the people tend to think very linearly. Very focused on their procedures and all that bureaucracy stands for. Cambridge on the other hand is full of hopefuls, its people tend to be quite idealistic and always seek to learn more about the universe and all that. Manhattan is corp and rich central. I mean, of course there are exceptions to every rule, but… you just get this feel for each planet and city the more you interact with it."

"I think I understand." Aela said after a brief silence. "Like how the Citadel has its highs and lows, the gleam of the Presidium and the neon lights of the Wards, Serrice's University, and the Temple of Athame, all of them have an… atmosphere about them."

"Yeah, and it's something I really look forward to seeing more of." Perkins aid with a certain amount of.. wistfulness to him.

"Well, I guess as a Freelancer with a galaxy to explore, that won't be anything near as much as a problem for you huh?"

"Right." he said, his normally cheeky tone returning. "Let's go."

__

"I'm glad you two could make it." Talia said the moment they arrived at the ship. "I figured you would be far too busy in whatever room you two managed to squirrel yourselves away in."

"Nothing like that happened. At all," Aela said quickly. "I prefer things to be professional between me and Perkins."

"Employer employee relationships are always bad in my experience." Perkins helpfully supplied.

"Good. That means I can have you all to myself, hon." Talia said as she slid up to Perkins' side. "I can show you all sorts of things we asari are famous for."

Aela just shook her head, noting that Korvan and Lia were both doing so as well. Aela silently hoped for something to happen to bring Talia to some sort of seriousness. Like pirates for instance.

A woman could dream after all. It was probably a horrible thing to wish for, but she had a feeling that it would definitely be preferable to what she figured was coming.

 

[SharkGlue]

Between Relays
Somewhere in the Eagle Nebula

To say that the trip so far was awkward would have been a severe understatement in Aela's opinion. Talia had so far managed to, to everyone's but her own embarrassment, proposition Perkins in increasingly varied and elaborate ways, often involving something rather… graphic, and always while near at least one other member of the crew. Aela even started to suspect that Perkins' Bretonnian unflappability was starting to crack in face of such an assault. Even now, as they flew through a rather poorly patrolled section of space, Talia kept up her advances, though Aela admitted that she had picked a good background try and win him over. The vista was beautiful.

"So flyboy, I've seen you handle that ship of yours," Talia purred.

"Oh?" Perkins replied, actually lifting his head up from his new omni-tool. He had lately turned to exploring it and its functions in an attempt to distract himself from Talia. "Where'd you see it?"

"Someone leaked some footage from that first contact skirmish with the Mollies in the Tau 30 system," she replied as she slid up beside him. "That took some daring on your part. Especially since I'm assuming you were the daring pilot attracting fire from all those Mollies."

"Just doing my duty."

"And just like that you reminded me of a couple of Turians I used to know."

"Had a responsibility to my men and the Kingdom. Couldn't let them down, especially in a situation like that. Could have led to war, and that is the absolute last thing anyone wanted."

"Definitely feeling your inner Turian there."

"Seeing as I've never really gotten to know one, no comment." Perkins replied as he gently slid away from Talia.

Talia looked like she was going to give chase until Korvan spoke.

"Captain," he said, his tone professional. "I'm reading a ship, a frigate from the signature, heading straight for us."

"Out here? In the middle of nowhere?" Talia asked. "Hail them. Could be a lone patrol for all we know."

"I'm heading to the Crusader. Just in case" Perkins said, suddenly all alert.

"Lia, I want all power to barriers, just in case. With the load we're carrying, I don't think we can outrun them," Talia ordered, her voice surprisingly calm and professional. The change in attitude was so sudden, Aela was almost sure Talia had some sort of emotional whiplash at the change.

"Yes, Captain." Lia responded as she typed furiously into her console.

"Korvan, keep hailing them. I want to know who the hell they are."

"Yes Ma'am." Korvan replied, his eyes never leaving his console.

"Flyboy," Talia said into her omnitool. "Moment you see those cargo bay doors open, I want you to show off those fancy human piloting skills I saw on the extranet. If these are pirates, I want you to teach them a little lesson."

"Aye, Captain." Perkins replied, a hint of the officer he was coming back.

Aela meanwhile could only stand toward the back of the bridge and out of the way, watching helplessly as the frigate approached. Well, if they were pirates, boy did they have a surprise for them.

__


Being part of the Blood Pack meant a few things in Tusk's eye. As a Battlemaster for the Pack for a few decades, he liked to think that he had gained (and lost) a few things. For one thing, he learned that while the Pack ran lots of jobs that no one else would touch, their sort of reputation led to dry spells between "protection" contracts as well. Luckily, the Pack was very flexible in their payment plans and saw "encouraging new investors" as a legitimate form of earning bonuses.

Hence why Tusk was manning his frigate through poorly patrolled space in the search for freighters carrying precious cargo. There just aren't enough contracts worthy of a Battlemaster to go around for everyone, despite how few Battlemasters there were. Hence him and his group of vorcha on the prowl.

Tusk, though, had a good feeling about today. He could feel it in his bones that today would be a day to remember.

"Boss," hissed one of his vorcha. "Found ship."

"Well?" he growled. "What kind of ship?"

"Freighter. Carry much cargoes." the vorcha hissed a little fearfully.

"Good!" roared Tusk. "And so early in the day too! Bring us up alongside them. Don't answer any hails until we're right alongside them. No way can they escape a volley before they start up their FTL."

"Yes boss."

Tusk leaned back on his massive chair, feeling the chair creak against his armored bulk. This was the easy part, come in, board the poor bastards, take the cargo and then figure out if the crew is worth ransoming or not. It was a simple life, but a good one.

Very quickly, his expertly beaten vorcha crew brought the ship along the freighter's side in a perfect position to prevent the ship from fleeing. Close enough to hit, but distant enough to have been innocent until this moment.

"Receive their hail now." Tusk ordered.

"I'm pretty sure at this point that this isn't a social call," said a distinctly asari voice.

"Well done, asari." Tusk drawled out, in a low rumble "You know the drill. Cut your engines and hand over your goods." A rumbling chuckle jumped out of his throat. "Or don't. I know which one I'd like to happen."

"Look, I know how this goes. I think it's best that we cut to the chase. I can jettison my cargo and you leathery lizard can go pick it up. It's a load of eezo straight from Thessia, meant for Ilium, but I'll dump it and save us all a lot of time."

"Uhuh. You go do that, and then we'll go and board you as well. Make sure you aren't hiding anything."

"You touch us, you mess with Eclipse, then," the voice shouted.

"Nice try, but a real Eclipse sister wouldn't have given up the cargo so soon unless you were hiding something valuable. Either way, I'm still going to board you."

"Fuck you too."

"I'm still going to board you, asari. I'll be seeing you in a while. Or not, either way, I'm getting a little bit of that eezo you say you have there."

"Fine, I'll jettison them anyway. Opening cargo bay doors now. Hope you like the gift, you bastard."

"Your cooperation is appreciated." Tusk noted. While the little act of defiance could do nothing more than hinder them, it was probably a sign that these weren't worth ransoming. Probably best to leave them be after grabbing the cargo. "And for that, I'll probably let you live so long as you continue to cooperate."

"Hope you like the gift," the asari repeated, sounding a little too happy.

And like that, Tusk knew something was wrong.

"Boss! Something coming out of ship!"

"What?"

"Shuttle!" pointed out the vorcha. Tusk could make out something vaguely shuttle sized, though definitely a weird shape, coming out of the ship.

"Then blast it and the freighter," Tusk roared as he slammed his fist onto his armrest. It was obvious they were trying to make a run for it with something more valuable than a whole load of eezo. "Aim for the engines!"

The vorcha quickly responded, launching a round of cannon fire at the freighter's engines, though their barriers saved them from any real damage. Strangely enough though, the shuttle wasn't running away from them, it was closing in, and fast.

"They're on a suicide run." Tusk realized. "I want all GARDIAN batteries on the shuttle. Don't let it hit us!"

While vocha weren't well known or being particularly intelligent, these vorcha had literally been beaten and shaped into competent crewmen. They knew enough to save up the GARDIAN fire until the shuttle was close enough. Several tense seconds passed as the shuttle drew closer and closer to Tusk's ship until it finally crossed the invisible line. The very moment it came within range, the shuttle was hit by the full compliment of his ship's lasers.

Whoever was piloting it was good. The pyjack never went for the direct approach, instead somehow always twisting and turning the shuttle in ways he admittedly hadn't seen before in his centuries old life. It took a while for the batteries to get a good lock on the ship, and Tusk could've sworn that one battery that fired only got a glancing shot at the shuttle. It was fighting the inevitable though, as it drove on closer and closer towards the ship. With every kilometer it crossed, it only made the job easier and easier for the GARDIAN's VI, until it finally landed a few direct hits.

Which was why Tusk was very surprised to see the shuttle barreling down on them alive and kicking.

"What?" he roared, jumping to his feet and startling the vorcha around him. His eyes were wide, glued to the sensor display showing the impossible did indeed happen. A shuttle of all things survived what some corvettes couldn't.

"Thanks for the suntan," replied an alien language. "I hope you'll enjoy the one I'm about to give you."

The shuttle flashed, and the bridge erupted in chaos. Warning klaxons rang like there was no tomorrow, as the engine readout on Tusk's display flashed red. His mind raced, trying to understand why his barriers failed even as the shuttle flashed again and again, adding yet more alarms and explosions to the cacophony around him.

It hit him after a moments' realization.A brief sobering moment that he knew would change things significantly. The shuttle had to have energy weapons, some kind of super-GARDIAN on a ship that was nowhere near big enough to be able to power that little monster.

"Lost engines!' hissed one of his vorcha. "Core weakening!"

"He's good," Tusk growled out. Just because he had good toys didn't mean he was dependent on them. Fucker was smart to start by crippling him. But he was Krogan, and he always had more fight to give.

"Use the thrusters to align the main cannon on him." he roared as he punched one vorcha in frustration. "Lets see those fancy shields of his block that."

At a frustratingly slow pace, the frigate vectored upward, bringing the canon into a position that, while not perfect, would maybe hit something important on the shuttle.

"Open fire," he ordered the moment the shuttle entered practically point blank range, confident in the end of his little problem. He was likely only going to get one shot on the ship, but that would be enough to take the fucker down, leaving him open to the GARDIAN batteries.

He felt the main gun shudder through the ship as a single slug was accelerated to a fraction of lightspeed. He fully expected his problems to be gone soon enough, and he would go and educate the asari on the proper behavior of any pirate victim.

His sensors told him it was a grazing shot, which should have been enough to destroy any ship of that size, yet somehow, the damn thing was still there. However it did look a lot worse for wear, and the GARDIAN batteries were now visibly doing some damage.

"That stung." said the alien voice again. "I was just going to leave you defanged, but this calls for putting a rabid dog down."

The shuttle then unleashed a new flurry of beams, after somehow reviving its shields in an amazingly short time, raking the frigate from bow to stern. Tusk could quickly see damage reports form all over the ship, and he could feel the explosions rocking about it as well.

Though it hurt his pride immensely, Tusk knew when it was time to leave. He quickly made his way to his personal escape pod and strapped himself in, not caring about the vorcha still on-board. They were all replaceable, and he had more important things on his mind. Revenge, for starters.

He soon felt the pod rocket itself outside the ship, leaving him a lot of time to plan things out in his head. The bitch said Ilium, and that would be a start. He began thinking of the many myriad ways he would be 'teaching' the bitch who did this to him. Tusk would get his revenge, by Aralakh, and if he could get his hands on that ship as well… that would be a very lucrative form of compensation.

 

[SharkGlue]

Aela could only let out a sigh of relief as she saw Perkins very carefully land in the freighter's cargo bay once more. It took him a while, but he had also managed to ferry the crates into the freighter slowly through his use of his ship's tractor beam (which in itself was another rather spiffy piece of tech Aela knew many would like to understand better)

She actually felt a little guilty for a while, wishing for pirates to break up the incessant flirting of Talia with Perkins, but quickly dashed that irrational thought away. its not like that kind of thinking brought the pirates on them. That was merely coincidence and bad luck running at the same time.

"Anything on our sensors, Korvan?" Talia asked curtly, sitting by her captain's console and reading her outputs as best she could.

Though refreshingly enough, it looked like the pirate encounter brought out the professional side of Talia. For the past few hours, she had done nothing but keep a constant vigil over her board, constantly on alert for anything that even looked remotely unusual, as the ship stayed near the local asteroid field for cover.

"Captain," Korvan said as he looked up from his console. "I'm picking up something unusual coming from the nearby asteroid field."

"Any ideas, people?" Talia asked around. "I'm taking a look at it and I've seen nothing like it before."

"I've no clue, Captain," Lia replied with a sigh. "Nothing like an engine signature, or anything remotely looking like it came from something artificial."

"It's dangerous, then?" Talia asked the crew.

"I don't think so," Korvan said a he looked up from the console. "While it looks like it's emitting a large amount of energy, it's very far away. I'm willing to attribute it to some sort of unusual natural phenomena."

"I've got an idea." Perkins said suddenly as he walked forward to Korvan's console. "May I take a look see?"

"And how qualified are you to understand my readings, Perkins?"

"I've been reading up on your equivalents to my instruments. I'm reasonably sure that I can get a general idea of what it is if I take a look at what exactly it is you ladies and gent are looking at." he replied, his seemingly permanent smirk plastered in front of Korvan's face.

Aela noticed Korvan's eyes go small a bit, and he took a moment to look Perkins in the eye before he moved aside and let him take a look at a simple nod of his head. Perkins merely smiled at the batarian before he went to work scanning through the readings on display on Korvan's screen.

"That's… interesting." Perkins said bringing his head up from the console after a while. "I'm almost certain that there is a Jump Hole in the middle of that asteroid field."

"A what?" Talia asked, still no visible trace of her normally sultry tone, on her.

"It's the natural equivalent of a Jump Gate, what we humans use to go between our systems." Perkins explained. "I'm almost positive that it a Jump Hole, and if you're interested I think it's phase-aligned too."

"Please translate for us clearly ignorant aliens." Aela responded. While she'd heard of Jump Holes, phase-aligned was something new.

"Basically it means it's safe to use. More or less."

"That's encouraging us to use it, how again?" Lia asked now. Aela could've sworn she some sort of eyebrow move behind her faceplate, as if in annoyance.

"Well it's mostly safe, because the trip in the ship should be safe, if a bit rough. The unsafe bit would be where you land. Which admittedly could be in the middle of a dangerous patch of oxygen or methane or radiation, but still. That jump hole could be leading anywhere in the galaxy and we'd be there in seconds. I mean, theoretically, Jump Holes don't have the range limits that Jump Gates have. All I have to do is get on my ship, do a quick jump,see if I can figure out what system I'm in then jump back and hand over my readings."

"So that thing could get us straight to Ilium if we went through it properly?" Korvan asked, a hint of his bluntness breaking.

"Not properly, if we're lucky. In theory yes. it could lead us to Ilium. It could also lead us straight back to the Citadel, the Sirius sector, or even Earth. Hence why it's important that I check where it'll lead."

It took a moment before Talia replied. "Do it. It might cut on time and maybe prevent any more interesting visits from pirates."

"Aye captain." Perkins said with a smart salute before he left or his ship. Strange, he's never done that before. Maybe it was a response to Talia's professionalism?

__

It was a tense half hour while waiting for Perkins' report on the Jump Hole. Everyone was on the alert for any signs of further pirate activity. Korvan's eyes never left his console, Lia was prepping the engines and making sure the core was still stable, and Talia was hardwired into the sensor bank console, keeping an eye out for… well anything really.

Aela honestly felt useless amidst all this action. She wasn't qualified for any of the instruments. Really, the best thing she could do was be ready in case there was an actual boarding, but that wasn't happening anytime soon from the looks of things.

"I've got an incoming transmission, it's Perkins." Korvan suddenly said.

"Put him on speakers."

"Perkins' here, I've finished my readings, and I've confirmed the Jump Hole's phase aligned. Bad news is, I'm not sure where exactly the jump hole leads. My readings when I arrived shows that while it was a relatively safe area, I have no idea where it is."

"Do you have the coordinates though?" Korvan asked.

"Yeah, I'm uploading them to you now, Navigator. Any clue as to where they lead?"

"Checking database… and it looks like that leads straight to the Mesana system… That's where the Elcor homeworld is located…"

"By the Goddess… that's… thousands of lightyears away." Aela exclaimed.

"I guess you weren't kidding huh?" Talia chuckled. "What would normally take a week, you did in half an hour.While it's amazing, I think we lingered here too long. Get back here so we can make for the Relay at best speed.."

"Roger that. RTB, ETA 5 minutes."

Aela was still processing that… these natural phenomena were around all this time.

"Guess those old spacer tales have something true to them after all." Talia said after a while. "Ships there one moment, find a weird energy signature, then poof, no more ship. Never seen again."

They must have entered a… non-phase-aligned Jump Hole then." Korvan replied. "From what Perkins described, going through a Jump Hole is a rough experience to begin with under proper circumstances. Under the wrong ones…"

"It's fatal." Lia finished solemnly. "I can see why Perkins' people don't make regular use of them."

"Usable only under the right circumstances, and located in often dangerous locations to begin with. No wonder they went with making Jump Gates." Aela mused out loud.

"I think that's enough theorizing for now." Talia interrupted. "Let's focus on the job, then we can talk once we're in safer space."

Aela just nodded and let them get back to work while she made way to her quarters to jot down her thoughts in peace.

___

This is the Colony News Network, here with the latest in news.

SYNTHPASTE RELEASING NEW LINE OF ASARI FLAVORS,
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK SYSTEM - SynthPaste representatives have recently met with various Asari representatives to begin operations on some of their newer agricultural colonies such as Tania. SynthPate executives expect to be releasing a new line of flavors centered on Thessian cuisine within the following business quarter. This marks the first major corporation to be making inroads into Citadel space, though other corporations such as DSE are already hunting for contracts with other Citadel species.


NEW EMBASSIES ON THE CITADEL
THE CITADEL, WIDOW SYSTEM - Today marks an important day in human history, as Liberty, Rhineland, and Bretonnia have now opened up their embassies on the Citadel. This was marked by an elaborate party, with representatives from the three nations, and other Citadel dignitaries were out in full force. It was also during the party that the new ambassadors for each nation were announced, with Edward Finnigan, representing Liberty, Lord Edmund Cunningham for Bretonnia, and Wilhelm von Clausewitz, for Rhineland. Ambassador Finnigan stated that "We shall be working together to advance the interests of the common man and woman, and we hope to help ease us into peaceful coexistence with our new Citadel friends".

 

[SharkGlue]

AN: Due to some good input by Tempera, I've decided to also start rewriting portions of the story for better cohesion and quality. Expect the Earlier snips to be rewritten again along with a general slow down in new snips.

Neural Net Update

Ilium
Controlled by: Asari Corporations (various)
System: Tasale
Radius: 7,431 km
Orbital Distance: 1.3 AU
Orbital Period: 1.5 years
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: 63C
Surface Gravity: 1.2 g
Mass: 1.617 Earth Masses
Population: 84 Million

Ships for sale: Compiling
Commodities For Sale: Eezo (restricted), Luxury Food, Entertainment Media, Alcohol, Red Sand (controlled), Side Arms
Commodities Buying: Consumer Goods, Luxury Goods, Gold, Silver, Niobium
Weapons for Sale: Compiling

One of the youngest colonies of the Asari Republics, Ilium is a classic garden world, hampered only by its relatively high surface temperature, limiting habitation to the northern poles and in arcologies.The colony lies within an interesting legal loophole of Citadel Space, as Ilium is one of a few corporate run worlds.On paper, Ilium is run and colonized by asari corporate interests, not the Asari Republics, allowing the planet to bypass many of the strict laws of Citadel Space, making many things from indentured servitude to mind-altering substances legal on the planet. This in turn has made the planet a veritable trade hub for anyone looking to trade with the neighboring Terminus Systems.

Ilium
Tasale System

After the pirate encounter, the rest of the trip to Ilium was a relatively peaceful affair. Talia only came on to Perkins five times. Still, after the pirate attack, Aela looked forward to a nice week or two hunting for her colleague, Dr. Raela T'Vedri, and a sponsor for her planned expedition. She would probably also need to find some workers and, if Talia wasn't going to be around, a new transport to the dig site.

Really, if the Dom'Kavash were as impressive as she imagined... If she could find even a single working artifact, it could change the galaxy forever. Just imagining what could change with even the tiniest applications of a functional artifact was enough to send a shiver down her spine as she looked without seeing at the planet below.

"Care to share your thoughts?" a voice said suddenly, startling Aela out of her reverie. She turned around to find Talia leaning by the door to her quarters.

"Sorry," Talia said, rubbing her hands together. "It's just that, you looked rather pensive while staring at the planet, and… I'm genuinely curious to find out what's on your mind."

"It's nothing much," Aela said moving to her chair to sit. "I've just been thinking about a new dig. My colleague found some interesting non-Prothean artifacts lately. Normally, this wouldn't be of too much interest, except that the humans have found them interesting as well. If what the Humans say about them is true, it would make the Protheans seem like primitives in comparison. Hence why I'm heading towards Ilium. She was there last I heard, and if I can get some of her notes, or even an idea of her next site, I can begin my search there."

"Well… if you need a ship. The crew and I'll be around."

"Why?" Aela said after a brief moment of silence.

"I like you. You're not quite like the Matrons back home, you've still got that maidenly need to search for something new.

Plus, Perkins. He's a... perk to you having you as a client."

At that, Aela just groaned. Well, at least Talia would be a reliable captain, if not for her… stubbornness with her advances on Perkins
__

Traffic to the Nos Astra Spaceport wasn't particularly bad, so they were able to land within a few hours of arriving in the system. When they landed, as Aela suspected, Talia made her way to some bar, while Korvan and Lia disappeared somewhere, probably each off to do their own thing, whatever it was.

Right now though, she was here, Ilium, on the very edge of both Citadel and Asari space. The gateway to the Terminus systems. Omega itself was only a few Relays away, and it showed in Ilium's prosperity. Nearly anything was legal here, and could be bought or sold on a whim.

Which sadly, could very well include the Doctor's notes. Not out of any sense of knowledge of what they were capable of, but perhaps to some collector of rare and interesting artifacts. With that in mind, Aela steadied herself and began her search for the good doctor.

She then noticed Perkins walking up right beside her, as they both walked to the nearest fast transit station.

"Definitely like Manhattan," Perkins said after taking in a deep breath of air. "Just enough of that city smell to remind you of the urbanization, not enough chemicals to make you think you're on Leeds. You can practically smell the Credits being made by the second, though I do admit it's a lot warmer than I thought it would be..."

"While it's comforting to know that we share more things in common than some realize, I must ask how this is relevant to our search?"

"Easy. Follow the money."

"I don't follow." Aela replied, stopping by one balcony that gave a good view of the market below.

"Simple. This colleague of yours is either on planet, or off on a dig. Either way, digs are off on the edges of civilized space, with no one around for light years, yeah?"

"So she'd need to get supplies and crew to help…"

"And for that she needs money, that no offense, would be beyond an academic's pay I imagine."

"So we find her sponsor, we get an idea of where she is."

"Right. Problem is I don't know anything or anyone here. You're the one who'd have an idea of where to start."

Aela gave it some thought. "Thing is, I do, and if luck is with us, I may be able to get another sponsor as well..." she finished as she led the way to their hotel. She wasn't quite used to handling her own funding. Normally she begged the University for hers, but asking it from private sources couldn't be too much different.

_

The Vision Hotel had clearly seen better days. Its slightly tarnished exterior amidst the shine of Ilium marked it out among the relative shine and polish of the other neighborhoods. Still this was what was affordable, and while the neighborhood may be a bit ratty, it should be relatively safe. There was a police station right round the corner.

The important thing though was that it provided a relatively large amount of privacy for the call she was about to make. Considering who she was calling, it was best that there weren't any people listening in on them.

"Doctor D'Avo." said the distinctly calm voice of Matriarch Benezia. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Though…" Aela said a little hesitantly. She was about to make a request of one of the most influential people in the Asari Republics after all. "I'm afraid I'm calling to ask a favor of you, Matriarch."

"Oh?" Benezia said, almost as if she wasn't surprised. "If I were to take a guess, it would have to do with funding for a new dig. Am I right?"

"Well… yes." she admitted sheepishly. "These things are expensive, and ideally I'd like to get a good mix of both students and experienced professors with me. Though, the new thing that we will be looking for is something not Prothean."

"The Isunanon?"

"No… Much older. Dr. Raela T'Vedri discovered an ancient civilization a few months ago before the humans were encountered. Apparently, the humans have encountered evidence of the same ancient civilization that they call the Dom'Kavash, but with a much wider array of discoveries that suggest the civilization easily eclipses what the Protheans did. Though the Dom'Kavash left no active technologies, they did leave behind a vast array of crystal based technology. From what the humans have told me, though every crystal they've found was too damaged to read or even begin to grasp the fundamentals, the few writings the Dom'Kavash left suggest that they had an empire that spanned the galaxy. Take into consideration the fact that Dr. T'Vedri's find was in Terminus Systems, while the Humans are on the opposite end of the galaxy in the Sirius Sector. I theorize that since these crystals are incredibly common among the sites found, they quite probably formed the entire technological base of the Dom'Kavash, they possibly had no need for eezo. We have no technological equivalent to anything they might have had, so it's probable that they used a different sort of FTL. We know that isn't impossible, thanks to the humans and their Jump Gates, so I don't think it too unlikely that a civilization 65 million years ago created another way of traversing the galaxy."

"I find that very hard to believe, Doctor."

"But what if it's true? And what if we find a live artifact? Not even the humans have discovered one, and if we do, or better yet find the equivalent of a Prothean beacon, just think of all the changes to society it would herald. It would essentially level the playing field for everyone."

Silence came from Benezia's end. Aela liked to think that it was a sign that Benezia was really thinking about this, and not thinking about how to lightly put her down.

"I think, for something like this, even if it is only a slim hope, I will support you. If the possibilities are as great as you say… I think this warrants the full support of my House."

"Really?!"

"Indeed. If they are as great as you say, then we most definitely can make use of what they leave behind. Especially if we were to get at it first, we would be able to make lives around the galaxy a lot easier, and perhaps even keep up the Asari superiority. Though I do have one small condition..."

"Of course, Matriarch." Aela quickly replied. For the full support from a Matriarch of Benezia's standing, she'd be willing to do just about anything short of murder.

"Take my daughter with you as a… student of sorts. She too has a passion for archaeology, and if what you suspect is true, then this would be a good time for her to learn something."

"Of course. I can meet her on Thessia when I return to assemble a team."

"Good. Do you require anything else?"

"I was hoping you'd have an idea of where to find Dr. Raela T'Vedri. I've tracked her down here to Ilium, but the trail goes cold soon after. Would you by any chance know where she is?"

"I do not," she replied. " I do however know someone who would. I'm sending you an information packet on one Dakni Cal. He's a local broker, and should be able to help you out. Present the following packet to him, and he'll help you free of charge. He knows what it means."

"Thank you once again, Matriarch." Aela replied, her heart beating faster than ever.

"You are welcome, Doctor. Take care, pirate activity seems to be increasing in the area lately, I would hate to have something happen to you or your research."

"Of course Matriarch, once again thank you." and with that, Aela cut the connection and practically leaped with joy. Sure the area may be a tad bit more dangerous than she thought, but still, she just got funding for her new dig from Matriarch Benezia! That was practically a blank check to get all sorts of things she normally wouldn't have. She could get luxuries for the dig, like decent rations, maybe even SynthPaste if her colleagues wouldn't mind.

Honestly, with a day like this, Aela expected that finding Dr.T'Vedri would be a breeze.

 

[SharkGlue]

AN: So it's not dead. i've just had a very busy couple of weeks and well overall I haven't been quite happy with the snip as is. So yeah, I figured to best post it and receive comments in hopes of improving the snip.

Also, introducing a new pair of characters who i hope to have lead to some more... interesting scenarios in a few snips down the line.


Dakni Cal's office turned out to be a lot smaller and more non-descript than Aela thought. It was located in a small overhang near one of Nos Astra's many markets, and so far Aela didn't think much of it. He didn't have any form of visible security, just the one salarian secretary who was currently barring their way in. It seemed to be just a tiny two room office, a waiting room/secretary's area and Dakni Cal's office itself, with the only remarkable thing to note so far was that the couch seemed to be made of actual bull seris leather.

Aela sighed a bit at the whole thing while leaning back on the rather comfortable couch. She got a feeling that while searching for Doctor T'Vedri wouldn't be difficult, it would be a lengthy and tedious process. The things she did for this dig...

"You know, when I was 'signed up'," Perkins air quoted. "For the whole freelancing business, I didn't expect there to be so much sitting around involved. I thought my days of hurry up and wait were over."

"Mr. Cal is a reputable information broker, and Matriarch Benezia herself recommended him to us," Aela defended. "I'm sure he's just has a… occupied schedule."

"I'm sure he is with this oh so elaborate office he has us waiting in." Perkins replied, waving his hands about. "I'm also sure he's busy researching what he can on us. I know that I wouldn't want to go into things blind. Still doesn't change the fact that we're waiting."

Aela opened her mouth to reply when coughing came from the secretary's direction.. "Mr. Cal will see you now," the salarian said, briefly looking at them before heading back to typing away on his terminal doing who knows what for the information broker.

Aela gave Perkins a sharp look, then waved for him to follow as she made her way into the office. It was a rather small thing, with an admittedly impressive view of the marketplace. Otherwise it was rather barren, with the only real distinguishing thing in the office aside from the desk and terminal was some potted plant next to it.

"Dr. D'Avo" wheezed the stumpy volus. "I apologize for the delay."

"It's no problem, Mr.Cal," Aela replied, moving towards the desk. "I'm sure you are a busy man after all."

"Indeed I am, and may I say it is an honor to meet one of you New-London-clan."

"Pleasure's all mine," Perkins replied, grinning.

"Then to business.Since Matriarch Benezia will be handling the... financial end of the transaction," he said as he brought his hands together, resting them on his desk. "Let me instead tell what I know about Dr. T'Vedri. From what my sources have… provided, she has indeed been seeking people to finance her new dig and while she has gotten a few investors, she hasn't really gotten enough for the dig. She's running out of people who are willing to listen to her on planet and she may be desperate enough to call on some favors. I do have it on good authority that the local Eclipse branch has some sort of ties with T'Vedri. I suspect she'll be there to either ask to help out an old friend through either financial or material loans, possibly even personnel if she was particularly high up the chain."

"I'm sorry," Perkins interrupted. "Eclipse?"

"A rather prominent mercenary group with a rather large contingent of asari, New-London-clan." Cal replied. "Very effective, though very... notorious for occasionally performing operations of… questionable legality."

"They are also certainly one of the largest mercenary groups around," Aela chimed in.

"Correct, Dr.D'Avo. Where their rival the Blood Pack would be the hammer to a situation, the Eclipse are the scalpel. They pride themselves on clean, precise operations with little to no combat involved if possible."

"So I imagine they're quite wealthy then," Perkins mused aloud.

"Very." Cal wheezed. "They handle a lot of shipping here on Ilium to other planets in addition to their mercenary contracts."

"I'm sensing a 'but' there," Perkins chimed in.

"A lot of those shipping routes of theirs are also suspected of smuggling drugs and weapons to locations all throughout the galaxy." Cal continued.

"So a lot like the Junkers, except more hands on." Perkins mused aloud. "I think I can see why Dr. T'Vedri would only go to them as a last resort thing."

"Either way, we need to find her." Aela replied. "So do you know where she is?"

"I believe she's currently visiting some benefactor of hers out of system. From what I have gathered, she won't be back on Illium for another month. I'm afraid all you can do right now is wait for her to get back and then wait at the Eclipse office. I've no idea who or where this benefactor she's visiting is."

"Thank you anyway," Aela said after sighing in frustration.

"You're welcome, and I wish you good fortune in your endeavour, whatever it may be Dr. D'Avo. I will contact you the moment I hear that she has arrived," Dakni Cal replied as Aela and Perkins walked out of Dakni Cal's office.

"I guess it's time to play the tourist game." Perkins quipped ,bouncing around like an excited dog. "It's certainly better than sitting down and twiddling our thumbs together."

"I guess." Aela replied, rubbing her temples with her hands. "I just wish that she could get here sooner. The sooner she arrives, the sooner we can combine our knowledge and notes to find the next Dom'Kavash site."

"No use wishing for something to happen faster if we can't do anything about it." Perkins replied. "Best we go and do something rather than do nothing."

Aela just sighed, everything was all looking so swimmingly and now… well this. "Might as well take a look around, see the sights, get a drink."

"That's the spirit, Aela!" Perkins replied, slapping her on the back . "I especially like that get a drink part. Where's the nearest bar? New liquor is always a good thing."

Aela just nodded along and led the way. She could use a good drink after today's results. Patience may be a virtue, but with something like this, she could barely stand waiting. She just knew that the discovery of a lifetime was so close, she could taste it. A drink would be a wonderful solution to at least one of her problems right now.

___

Interlude
I think this would be a good PoV change thing from an outside view but I'm unsure of what faction/viewpoint I should include here.


Tau 37 System
Malvinas Cloud

The Tau 37 system was one of the first systems to be explored by the Outcasts in the early days of settlement. The system was found to be of particular interest, not only for its unusual twin stars, but for the way it lead deeper into House space thanks to a particularly regular Jump Hole not only from Malta but also going to what is now known as the Tau 23 system.

Even with their proximity to the system, it still wasn't particularly to the Outcasts' advantage to explore the whole system. They had better things to do to make use of their limited manpower, like patrols or smuggling runs.

Which was exactly what Mariella Torres was hoping for. An Outcast smuggler veteran of over two decades, Mariella considered herself a veteran of enough skirmishes with both House Police and Military forces to consider herself an able enough pilot to know how to hide herself.

Not too long ago, she had requested leave from Don Juan himself so that she may "Think about settling down and starting a familia" Don Juan of course, couldn't refuse such a request, what with how few Outcasts there were and how difficult it was for them to reproduce.
So she took her Sabre and loaded it to the brim with Cardamine, food, and water and set off for here in the middle of the ice cloud, hoping against hope that he would come.

Mariella sighed and leaned back on her chair. Who was she to hope that he would come? She was an Outcast, and he a Corsair. Sworn enemies, and yet something magical happened during those months aboard the Trafalgar Junker station. He wanted something aside from the bloody life of a Corsair, and honestly feeding the drug habits of The Houses wasn't something she necessarily agreed with.

A pact was made (under what was admittedly a lot of alcohol) between her and Nico to meet here in the middle of the cloud as shared in their maps before they last parted. Together, they'd run away and make a new life, away from the Houses. Maybe even if they were lucky… they'd find a way to the alien systems, far away from any House authority.

Her computer pinged in alarm, breaking her out of her reverie. She immediately turned her weapons up, for all she knew, this could've been a Bounty Hunter seeking out Outcasts. But with the ice cloud messing with her sensors, the Bounty Hunter would practically be within spitting range in seconds.

"Mariella?" rumbled her helmet's speakers.

Her heart skipped a beat. He came! "Nico?" she whispered in hope.

"Si," he said, his voice crackling over the speakers. "As promised, love."

Mariella soon got a good look at what exactly he came in. It looked world weary, and was definitely a veteran of many a battle, what with the many pot marks she could make out even through the cloud's haze. Yet the Titan looked about as ready to defend itself if necessary against anything. Just like her Nico.

"And I found a little something on the way here, too," he said as she received a file on her Neural Net. "A gift from Crete."

"The translation program for the aliens?" she gasped. "But… how would we end up using it? Even in our ships, there is no way we can get past the Tau 30 Gate."

"Uh uh." he chuckled over the radio. "I said that was Crete's parting gift. I have yet to give you my gift to our bond." he said before Mariella received another Neural Net Update.

"A Jump Hole? To where?"

"It's not House space, I can tell you for sure. Maps of alien systems are still vague and out of reach to us. Though…" he dropped his voice a bit. "Tripoli has been taking apart the ships we've captured, and are busy building our own versions. We're also confident enough about using the captured loot to explore other systems, and we've found Jump Holes well away from House space. We even found a new habitable planet."

"That's wonderful news!" Mariella replied. "Maybe there can be hope for peace among the children of the Hispania one day?"

"Maybe, but even though the breeding restrictions have been loosened a bit, I don't think it'll be happening soon. Maybe for our children…" he said. "But I've taken a good look at it, and it looks to be phase aligned right now. You and me, we could take the leap, then talk to some alien freelancer and head as far away from House space as possible."

"We've already broken all the rules." Mariella replied as she started her engines. "What's breaking one more by running away with you?"

"Nothing."

___

The past few days aboard the escape pod had been miserable for Tusk. Even with the pod's onboard supplies he had loaded, the pod just wasn't designed for someone of his size within it. He was cramped like a bunch of pyjacks in a barrel, and with his recent defeat, it wasn't helping his mood at all. Everyday he imagined all of the little ways he could enjoy exacting his revenge out of the asari, and the… human. The human would be tricky though, he'd never met one before the fight, and there was no telling how sturdy they were. He'd have to take it slow and steady, and if that so happened to make revenge sweeter… then that was that.

Still, Tusk hoped someone would come along soon. The trail would start to run cold, and the moment more humans came in, he was surely going to lose them. He could only hope now that-

"Attention life pod," crackled the speakers, "anyone alive in there?" said a familiar voice.

"That you, Grom?" Garm asked.

The speakers rattled in guttural laughter in response. Yup, that was Grom all right.

"What are you doing in a life pod you old pyjack?" Grom asked about a minute.

"Long story, but I'm calling in that favor for back on Tuchanka."

"Oh?" Grom asked chuckling a bit. "Say no more, though I bet it's gotta do with revenge. Who's the poor bastard we're going to tear apart?"

"A human, had a ship that looked like a fish, said that they were headed for Ilium."

"That's not a lot to go on," Grom commented.

"It should be enough." Tusk replied. "I'll find them, there can't be that many humans with that kind of ship on Ilium."

"All right then. See you aboard in five." Grom said, chuckling at the end.

Tusk just laughed back, shaking the pod with his laughter. Soon he'll have his revenge.

 

[SharkGlue]

So I'm not dead. Just really really occupied with classes.


This is the Colony News Service, bringing to you the latest in news

SynthPaste unexpectedly popular: Illium,Tasale System -- In surprising news, the limited release of SynthPaste flavors into Citadel space has shown it to have a surprising amount of popularity, especially among asari. "It really does capture the taste of home!" commented one asari captain while lining up for more outside one of SynthFood's outlets in Ilium. SynthFoods inc. has meanwhile commented that they are "struggling to increase supply" as they have announced their latest acquisition of several large portions of the asari colony Alim to grow more of their trademarked product. They hope to be able to not only meet the growing demand from the Citadel races in two years time, but to expand enough to outpace it.

Corsair sightings in Terminus Systems: Illium,Tasale System -- Around the Terminus Systems, people have reported the sightings of strange avian looking craft that none of the local races have seen before. With the recovered blackbox of the freighter "Athame" and combined testimony of its survivors, human investigators have confirmed that Corsairs have somehow found another way out of the Sirius Sector. House Police forces are already coordinating with Turian peacekeeping forces by preparing them with known Corsair tactics and behaviors. Lt. Charles Xander of the Liberty Security Force commented "The Corsairs have managed to find their way out of the Sirius sector, yet are leaving more survivors than ever before. Something's changed, though I'm not sure what." He declined to comment further. We'll bring more to you as the situation updates.

It had been a rather trying month for Aela on Ilium. Normally, she was a lot more patient, but… there was something in her gut that gnawed at her with the knowledge that her next step to finding the next great dig was mere moments away. The Dig that would change life around the galaxy forever. The sort of immortality that could only come once a generation. Though honestly that would have just been a perk to discovering something truly grand.

It also didn't help that a lot of the locals noticed Perkins. As one of the first humans to be seen outside of the Sirius sector, and with the large number of young asari maidens around… Well Aela imagined this was what it was like as a celebrity bodyguard, lots of excitable young maidens hoping to meet or touch the fame in the hopes some of it would rub off or… lead to other things.

So when she got a message on her Omnitool the moment she woke up with a time at the Nos Astra spaceport, she was practically giddy all morning as she and Perkins prepared to intercept the doctor at the reception area. Talia in that sense had been rather helpful, she had stuck around promising to provide her ship as the dedicated transport for the expedition to wherever it would go. She claimed Korvan would be very helpful with navigating the area, having "a good grasp of the nature of the Terminus systems." Aela suspected she knew why but decided to not push any further, Korvan didn't really strike her as someone who was a particularly bad person.
Still, Aela couldn't help but nervously tap her feet as they waited at the arrival terminal. Dr. T'Vedri had come on a public transport and Aela figured she knew her face well enough at this point to be able to pick her out from a good distance.

"Relax," Perkins commented as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "You look about as excited as a kid on too much sugar."

"I find it rather hard not to be excited." Aela countered. "She has a site for us to visit, and something tells me it's going to be big. I have a good feeling about it."

"Well, so long as we do things safely…" Perkins mused. "Now, when you find Dr.T'Vedri, meet me over there in that lounge, away from the rather excitable young ladies eh?" Perkins said as he slinked his way towards the smoking lounge. Soon enough, the passengers disembarked from the ship, filling up the comparatively empty lounge as passengers briskly walked towards the exit.

Aela kept a sharp eye out for Dr. T'Vedri, making sure to look for her distinct purple skin tone and white facial tattoos. Really though, it looked like the ship wasn't too full, as there weren't that many passengers making their way off. She soon spotted the doctor, wearing a plain worksuit, not too dissimilar to the one she would wear on her digs, and a rather large backpack behind her, presumably her luggage.

"Doctor"T'Vedri!" she cried, jumping to get her attention. "May I have a word please?"

Dr. T'Vedri stopped for a moment, staring at her. She seemed to think about it for a moment, then shrugged and walked over to Aela, slowly making her way past the crowd. "May I know who I'm talking to?" she asked upon walking over.

"I'm Dr. Aela D'Avo," Aela chirped after taking a moment to catch her breath. "A fellow xenoarchaeologist, and well…" she said the next part in a low whisper. "I heard about your recent discovery of the non-Prothean ruins."

"Yes..." T'Vedri replied hesitatingly, almost jumpy.

"I've been following your work, and well… there are some things I've found that I think you'll want to see as well. " Aela replied.. "Please follow me to that lounge over there, I have a human friend who has something he'd like to introduce you to." she said in a low whisper.

T'Vedri's eyes practically bulged out at the mention of a human, and she silently nodded and followed Aela to the smoking lounge.

It was remarkably deserted, considering it was Ilium they were on. Perkins was contentedly relaxing on the couch, hand behind his head, humming some chipper tune. When he noticed her coming in with T'Vedri he practically jumped to attention though.

"So the lady returns with her quarry," he said in altogether far too merry tone, throwing a rather cheerful salute along with it. "Madam, I'm James Perkins at your service, general freelancer and busybody."

"Don't mind him," Aela interrupted. "He's rather… Bretonian. Anyways, considering that together we may be on the brink of discovering the next great find, I thought you and I would appreciate some privacy," she said as she took a seat on one of the couches. "Let's sit for this, shall we?"

T'Vedri followed, and sat across from Aela, crossing her legs. Aela could see her face was tinged with both a healthy amount of caution, and that little spark every scientist has: curiosity.

"Dr. T'Vedri, as I'm sure you've heard by now, Mr. Perkins here is a human from the Kingdom of Bretonia in the Sirius sector. What isn't widely known though is that I am the first to visit and see much of the Sirius sector, from Bretonia to Kusari, I've visited and sampled quite a bit of their culture. One thing in particular though really struck me while visiting Bretonia," she said as she brought up some of the images of the Dom'Kavash in the Bretonnian museum.

Aela let the images speak for themselves for now as she elatedly watched the astonished, yet fascinated look that Dr. T'Vedri had on her face. She knew then and there she was on the right track, and grinned.

"Remarkable..." breathed out T'Vedri, leaning, practically breathing onto the images as she studied them.. "They're … from the same culture."

"What you discovered several months ago, Doctor, was the ruins of an ancient race the humans call the Dom'Kavash. We don't know too much about them, but the humans know quite a bit. They've found their ruins all across the Sirius sector, and have confirmed that they pre-date the Protheans. They think these people were capable of… well let's leave it at saying that it makes what the Protheans did comparably child's play."

"I think you'll want to look at my notes then. I assume you've heard that I've been planning another dig?"

"It's why I've been looking for you, Dr. T'Vedri. I heard on Thessia that you were looking for funding for a new dig so… I came here hoping to aid you on your dig."

"And I hope you brought a sponsor as well, otherwise this dig isn't going anywhere," she said standing up. "While I've managed to garner the support of a few sponsors, if what I suspect is correct… then it won't be anything near enough for what I… know we will need for this dig."

Aela simply smiled as she stood up and led the way to the cab. "Don't worry, Dr. T'Vedri. My sponsor is considerably more generous than we could possibly need. I'm sure we can discuss more details on the way to your hotel, yes?"

"Of course," T'Vedri replied, slinging her pack behind her. "Now tell me everything you know about them."
____

"... so what happened to them, then?" T'Vedri asked the moment they landed at the hotel, a rather modest thing located in one of the shabbier districts around Nos Astra.

"No one knows. For all intents and purposes, the Dom'Kavash just disappeared around 65 million years ago. No signs of war, or plague or… well anything really. Though of course, this is very likely an effect of the sheer scale of time we're dealing with. A lot of things can happen in 65 million years, and the fact that their ruins are still around despite all the passages of time…" Aela sighed, "Truly amazing."

"Which makes the next dig site all the more crucial then," T'Vedri replied.

"How so?"

"I'm… relatively certain that it was a very important site to the Dom'Kavash," T'Vedri paused. "Well, as certain as I can be with something this old. I discovered what I suspect is a star chart back when made my first discoveries on Faralis, and it 'highlighted' several systems."

"How do you know it was highlighted?"

"It's a guess really but with a few similar..." she waved her hands a bit. "Pictograms surrounded by circles, I guessed that would mean it would be rather important. After accounting for stellar drift, I noticed something odd. There was one system in particular that was highlighted that seems to have not drifted at all, even accounting for any anomalies. Which as you know is certainly impossible. So if anything, I bet it's that system that has what we are looking for. "

"Well it's a... lead," Aela replied as they got to concierge desk, Perkins following close behind.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." he muttered out loud, fidgeting by the counter and sending furtive glances around the lobby. Aela ignored him and instead concentrated on what she remembered. It was rather quiet all together in the lobby, with only the group and the concierge being there today.

"I'd like to pick up some things I left behind not too long ago." T'Vedri said, bringing out her omnitool and showing a ticket to the concierge.

"Of course, ma'am," the asari concierge replied. T'Vedri tapped a few buttons on her omnitool and nodded to the concierge. "Well, everything seems in order. Wait right here," she said before leaving.

Aela took the moment to drink it all in. Soon she and Dr. T'Vedri would be both leading the Dig to find what would likely be the greatest archaeological discovery in generations. Which made Perkins' current unease slightly annoying, it was really spoiling the mood.

"You should relax, you know," Aela said to Perkins.

"I can't help it," he replied. "I've got a bad feeling about this whole place. Call me crazy, but I think something bad is going to happen."

"What makes you say that? Dr. T'Vedri here has as much a vested interested as us in finding this dig site as I do. I have the sponsor, she has the location. Equal parts glory for the both of us."

"It's not the good Doctor here who I have a bad feeling about, no offense madam, but rather the fact we were talking about it in the open for a while. I can't help but feel that someone overheard us… and we're going to be feeling the consequences of that soon enough."

"Please Mr. Perkins," T'Vedri replied in turn, trying to calm him down. "Relax, we'll be fine, and if you're worried about the criminal element, then let's just say that Eclipse... owes me a few things. We should be fine."

"Excuse me Doctor," the concierge interrupted. "I've your things here as requested."

"Thank you. Now let's- Oh Goddess…" she breathed out as the concierge screamed.

Aela quickly turned around to find a bunch of vorcha armed to the teeth right by the Hotel entrance. She blinked, and then she found herself being dragged by Perkins over and behind the counter as a barrage of fire rained towards them.

She saw Dr. T'Vedri bring up a barrier for a moment, buying her time to get to cover behind the counter. The concierge wasn't so lucky as a shot nailed her in the first few seconds, azure blood pooling around her body.

"Who on earth are they?" Perkins shouted over the din of gunfire while taking a few blind shots over the counter with his sidearm, red beams blizzing through the air as they sailed toward the vorcha.

"I'm guessing Blood Pack Vorcha!" Aela screamed over the ratatat's of machine gun fire. "I don't even know why they are here! This is Eclipse territory and everyone knows that!"

"We'd best make the most out of this situation, then!" Perkins said with a grin, as he fired off a few more blind shots, luckily frying the brains of one of the Vorcha, forcing the rest to take cover. "Can you launch one of those vortex things at them?" Perkins asked during the lull.

Aela took a quick peek over the counter. She counted five of the vorcha, near the entrance, but they looked near enough that a singularity could draw them all in. "I… think so. Though I don't see why you can't just fry them quick with that gun of yours. It'll go right through their barriers."

"I've got to make my shots count," he said as he loaded a fresh cell into his weapon. "I don't carry that many energy packs on me, and while they can recharge, it's nowhere near close enough for what I think we'd need for a true protracted firefight. So on my mark, launch one, then we head for the exit. I gank the gits, then we make for the cab. Got it?" Perkins said, inserting a fresh clip into his pistol.

"Are you serious?" screamed T'Vedri, her face frozen in disbelief.

"You'll get used to it!' Aela nodded sagely. She honestly didn't know what to make of her getting used to Perkins' actions but in this manner, it was certainly better than the alternative.

Aela nodded to Perkins, and he began his countdown. "3...2...1… Mark!"