Mass Effect: The Heralds of Civilization [IC]

[Hazuki]

The day is April 3rd, 2180. On the Citadel, many people are celebrating a recent amendment that allows perishable food to be served in non-restaurant areas of the Presidium. In the far-off reaches of the Terminus system, a young Quarian sets foot on the pirate ship Soylent Rush, which will one day be hers. On the Salarian colony of Olor, an old matriarch browses her family tree and smiles as she spots the profile of the man who taught her everything she knows. And, just through the Tides of Folly mass relay, the surveillance frigate Sparrow is drifting through the void.

On the deck, pilot Lars Varlen takes a long sip of black coffee and glances at a nearby screen. It's a starmap of the system, with a bright green circle around the planet Mytal. He looks over the map, brushes his beard, and leans back in his seat. At the far back of the deck, he can hear Captain Hrux happily bantering away with some of the tired-eyed crew who are moseying on to their stations.

Most of the crew are in the quarters, either having just climbed into their sleeper pods, or scattered across the breakfast table. Which also happens to be the dinner table, lunch table, general meeting ground, locker room, and occasional bed. Aside from the folk necessary to fly the ship and a handful to make sure everything's running smoothly, most of the crew don't have a job to do until they reach Mytal and make pals with the colony. The table itself is covered with the best food the chef can make from down in Engineering, which turns out to be pretty damned good, although Loren (Or "Pills" as the established crew call her) can't join them for breakfast.

One Turian sits at the table with a military posture, clad in full armor (Including the Fairlight logo) and with a single earpiece by his head. He's recognizable as Roscius Dectus, notable in that he's a new member of Fairlight, his sister has joined the crew for this colonization, and he's one of the rare Turian biotics. A lot of his time is spent sparring and working out in the cargo area with a few of the crew or else enjoying his privacy with some music.Despite his discipline, he's fairly approachable and has more than a passing interest in the arts.

On the opposite side of the table is one Ralli Melis, a member of the crew for a good ten years now, and the expert on all things historical. She apparently had some of the best education that money could buy, but somehow ended up indentured to Serrice Council - Captain Hrux was apparently able to rent her contract, earning her place on the crew and in Fairlight. Despite her position, she's exceedingly confident, and doesn't tend to listen to the advice of anybody without a degree. Most of her time is spent lounging around the living quarters, keeping up with further studies, and recovering from migraines in the most casual clothes one can wear in polite company.

Carim'rin nar Moreh is among the members of the crew just hired for this mission; a Quarian who just begun her pilgrimage and was snapped up by Captain Hrux, who is known to have a soft spot for the race. She has spent the few days of journeying thus far introducing herself to everyone, spending a great deal of time in the armory (Or else sparring), and playing games on her omni-tool. She has a refined manner of speaking, and seems willing to help other members of the crew out. Her role on the ship is security, but given the peaceful state of the ship, she is spending breakfast sitting near the lockers and fiddling with her omni-tool.

Aside from brief chatter, the most prominent sound at the breakfast table is that of Vejet's (Or Manor, as the crew like to call him) drones - the Elcor finds it increasingly difficult to get to the living quarters, so normally sends one of his drones to help converse and keep tabs on the ship's various systems. He's one of the main engineers in Fairlight, and spends most of his time in Engineering. On the far side of the room, one can spot the doors to the Medbay, where "Vaenia", the ship's Salarian doctor, can be found.

Do whatever y'all like.

[Comissar]

Vatia fought the urge to stretch her arms above her head as she made her way to the breakfast table, her ingrained training insisting she kept a professional appearance at all times. Sleeping on board a ship always left her feeling so stiff when she woke up, though the discomfort was more than made up for by the sights she got to see. She slows as she approaches the table, double checking her omni-tool to make sure she hadn't missed a summons. It seemed doubtful anyone would need contacting straight after a Relay transit, but stranger things had happened. Making sure the tool would ping her if she received an alert, she glanced back up at the table.

So busy already...

With the occasional "Excuse me." offered as she moved to get to the plates, she scanned the spread of food available. Sighting the Dextro food, she felt her mandibles twitch in anticipation. The Turian military often didn't indulge in providing anything more than the bare minimum of military rations. It made a nice change to have something more palatable.

Plate loaded, she found herself a seat two down from Roscius. Far enough to not impose on him, near enough to join in any conversation.

And to eavesdrop...

She felt a little twinge of guilt at that. Ever since she'd found out he was a Biotic, she'd been keeping half an eye on him. She was aware of their special status, and just wanted to make sure everything was above board. Taking a bite of her food, she closed her eyes for a moment to savour it, leaning back a little as she did. When she opened them again, she turned her head and gave Roscius a friendly nod of greeting, "Good morning."

[Ridai]

Tapping out silent rhythms on her cup of hot coco, Leeta is squatting beside the pilot's seat, watching the map with attentive eyes. Despite the extra body on deck, there have been no complaints about being in the way or getting on nerves thus far. Leeta knows how to be unobtrusive and stay out of people's hair (or appropiate equivalent). More often than not, she quietly fades in and out of people's perception and is gone the moment actual work needs to get done by one over whose shoulder she is looking or who she is quietly talking with (most often Lars). She is up early, as usual, dressed practically and in simple, but sleek designs, her hood currently warming the back of her neck. Sometimes, she starts a little when the Captain's voice rumbles especially loudly, but quickly returns to normal.

Leeta doesn't look as tired as usual and that small little difference is among the best things that have happened to her recently. "You were right, all a matter of feeling. I don't know if I can go back to other flights now," Leeta quietly comments to Lars, before she chuckles into her mug and takes another sip. The pilot has been telling her how coming out of mass relay transit doesn't need to mean turbulences, if one has a light touch. The fact that Leeta didn't fall over, drench herself with coco, or (as she felt like in some ships) wasn't becoming one with the far wall were ample evidence of that. Observing procedures of entering and exiting mass relay transit has also been quite educational (and fun, due to Lars' little enlightenments). Roughly remembering bits and pieces of the timetable that has been discussed by some of the crew, the asari's eyes glance at the time on the display. Breakfast time, probably. Leeta already had her morning meal, as mundane as it was.

"I should probably go down there soon, see if something needs doing." No procrastination in her voice, but no haste either. Trying on some of that zen is part of the list, and it is a process.

[Grimmzy]

See? Nothing went wrong. Verana sighed to herself, unable to sleep from the anxiety of her first relay jump in years since leaving the Hierarchy. As the hum of the drive core settled, she finally mustered the courage to sit upright and take in her new quarters. It was almost nostalgic. The slate gray walls, a single size cot, small personal work space and a footlocker. All the comforts one needs for military life. And yet, not military. It's something more, a new drive, a new beginning.

The cold floor sends a shock up her legs as Verana hops off the cot, rushing to her footlocker and quickly dresses in her newly acquired work uniform. She checks her omni tool and gasps at the display.

"Spirits, I'm gonna be late!"

Snapping the last buckle in place, she bends down to close the locker when something catches her eye from the floor. Her hand twitches as she grabs it and slowly stands up. Verana takes a moment to gaze at the old, crinkled photo of herself and the members of the Turian engineering unit she served with. She smiles and sticks the photo onto the small vanity mirror on the wall.

Wish me luck, guys.

Verana storms out of the cabin and proceeds to the upper deck, determined for one thing. Coffee.

[Implodio]

Yomim was a creature of habit; that much was certain. He insisted on a personal regime of walking the corridors of the ship at a crisp canter twice a day"...for my constitution, you see." His little solo march was only surprising then to newcomers, who had no reason to expect a Volus to be concerned for his constitution. They're all very similar pudgy little creatures, surely? But the lives of strange people are only strange from that outside angle, and those who tolerate no strangeness find themselves very lonely indeed.

For the humans on board, his wriggling march conjured images of old mechanical clocks where at the top of the hour a woodsman or soldier or cuckoo would emerge and circle around to vanish into another little door. Likewise, Yomim emerged into the dining room, little arms swinging heartily as he pumped along, waving one clicky-claw hand in its navy blue, gold-chased fanciness to the diners before completing his horseshoe tour of the room and exiting out the other door.

His tour of the vessel brings him finally to the side of Captain Hrux; peering up through gleaming lenses as Volus are perpetually required to do. His voice was the expected breath-heavy, noseless tone with idiosyncratically precise diction.

"Good cycle, Captain. The crew is buzzing. What's the good word?"

[Hazuki]

Vatia

Roscius held up a well-manicured talon after Vatia addresses him, finishes chewing his mouthful of food, then offers her a nod in return. "Good morning." He replies, softly, then takes a brief drink of the Tupari bottle at his side. One thing Vatia knows is that sports drinks are definitely not part of the ship's food stores - they may have a good chef, but they've still had to stock for long FTL journeys.

~

Leeta

"There's always something to do." Lars comments matter-of-factly, as a nearby screen tilts around to face him and he pushes it away with a brush of his fingers. The sound of chairs creaking can be heard all along the bridge, as people settle into their chairs, along with the familiar wheezing of Yomim Osheer when he joins the Captain's side.

~

Verana

Fortunately for Verana, an enterprising Salarian by the name of Woden Spune saw the opportunity to appeal to xenophiles of all varieties when humanity joined the galactic fray. He was able to find substitutes for many popular human foods for dextro-amino consuming races, although those foolish enough to try both say it's not quite the same as the original. Spune Co. (Which is now an affiliate of Black Horse Foods) provide a range of such luxury items, but they're not covered by the ship's food and drink funds.

Unfortunately, she'll have to go down to Engineering to retrieve some boiling water to mix her carry-on caffeine into.

~

Yomim

Captain Hrux has just finished a brief verbal jape with one of the younger human males on board when Yomim sidles up to him, which saves the young man a further reddening of his cheeks. He sits up in his specially-fitted chair and greets the Volus with a smile that crinkles his thick skin. "And to you. We've just slipped through the Tides of Folly relay, and we'll be making our first stop shortly. Are you planning on greeting the locals personally?"

[Ridai]

"Right, right. I'll get to it, more thought leads to action regardless anyway." Leeta casts a quick grin to Lars before getting up and walking down the deck with quick, quiet steps, instinctively choosing the most direct path that does not intrude in someone's space. As she drifts closer to the captain and Yomim, the loud voices make her want to drift a little further away, but decides to be polite instead.

"Good morning, Captain. Good morning, Executive Officer." Leeta greets them as she passes, but stops and hesitates for a moment after the second greeting. When there is a little break, she slips in a few words, her posture assuring she won't be intruding much longer. "Or do you prefer Mr. Osheer? I'm sorry, I'm not too familiar with who to address as what yet, sir." The young asari offers an apologetic smile to Yomim and the Captain, and though she looks a bit tired (and currently stuck in an uncomfortable situation), her face evidently is used to smiling and produces a rather charming example at this moment.

[Comissar]

Vatia tilted her head as she noticed the bottle of Tupari. She motioned toward it with her free hand, "Remind me to grab a couple of bottles of that next time we make port, would you?" She pauses briefly to take another bite of her food, "'ve been dr'nk'ng, mmm, s'rry," She swallowed, waving her fork vaguely down at her glass as she did, "I've been drinking water for the past spirits knows how long, I could use a little variety."

[Hazuki]

Leeta

"I don't know about our XO, here, but you can call me whatever you like." The aged Krogan informs her. "Crew like to call me Eleven, stuck around from way back when. Except for the ex-milss - tend to stick to Captain. Whatever makes them more at home, right?"

~

Vatia

Roscius tilts his head at Vatia as she speaks with her mouthful, patiently waiting for her to get herself organized. "Have you had any of it before?" He asks, glancing at the bottle that sits beside his plate. "If you haven't, prepare yourself. There's enough stimulant in Tupari to keep you on your feet for days."

[Implodio]

"And to you. We've just slipped through the Tides of Folly relay, and we'll be making our first stop shortly. Are you planning on greeting the locals personally?"

"Naturally, Tuchaunka-clan. It would be imprudent to come all this way, and then not take a personal hand in such matters." He rolled his little clippy-claw hands in the air as he spoke, as if the easy response was a fragrant he needed to waft up to the towering veteran's nose.


"Or do you prefer Mr. Osheer? I'm sorry, I'm not too familiar with who to address as what yet, sir."

Yomim turned to face the arrived Leeta; an operation that takes two whole steps of his tiny legs, though the Captain's exhange with Leeta draws attention away from his ponderous shuffling. He looks up with her and -... Well, he doesn't smile. Smiling requires a visible mouth, and Volus are famed enough social operators that any audible smile should really be under suspicion. But he does sound pleasant enough when speaking, if one has learned to forgive the idiosyncratic wheezing of such creatures.

"Oh, yes; Mister Osheer sounds most professional. I think I shall prefer that; although I can hardly enforce it. I'm likely to be drawn towards calling you Thessia-Clan. It seems rude to expect more naming rigidity of you, than you of me. Are you..." He leaned forward and a little up, as if peering at her through a fog and leaning into an intuitive gaze. "Looking for something to do, Thessia-Clan?"

[Comissar]

Vatia shook her head, twisting her body to more comfortably face the other Turian from her seat. "Can't say I have. You seem remarkably calm, though." A hint of amusement enters her voice, "If I were drinking stimulants that strong with my breakfast, I think I'd be twitchier than a Pyjak in a nest of Varren."

She paused to take a quick swig of water from her glass, "Do you know where I'd be best looking to get some? Might help out with some of my late shifts."

[Ridai]

(Don't you mean Thessia-Clan?)

Leeta nods in acknowledgement to Captain Hrux before lowering her gaze once more to Yomim, quickly trying to make the formality extended to her go away with a shooing hand. "Oh no no, just call me Leeta, I just didn't want to presume. But yes, I am looking to make myself useful. Anything I can help with?" The asari visibly relaxes, nervous energy converted into the anticipatory kind, eager to gather some hands-on experience as part of the Sparrow's crew.

[Hazuki]

Vatia

"I'm used to it." Roscius offers. "You'll find a bottle in most vending machines. They say it's the most popular drink among...well, everybody. Unless there's a fueling depot here, your best chance is hoping somebody's willing to part with theirs."

[Comissar]

Vatia nods, "I'll grab a bottle for myself next time we're at port, then." She raises her glass in thanks, before taking another drink, "Thanks for the heads up on it."

With her curiosity sated, she turns back to her food.

[Implodio]

"Oh no no, just call me Leeta, I just didn't want to presume. But yes, I am looking to make myself useful. Anything I can help with?"

The shutters on his exosuit's goggles scissor closed and open; giving the appearance of a thoughtful blink, though in actuality just wiping dust from the exterior lenses in keeping with its automated function. Then he raises a little pincer claws as if seizing his conviction from the air before him, and clicks it shut definitively.

"Infact, there is a little errand. Just legwork, of course; but..." He lifts a stubby little leg demonstratively. "Better your legs than mine, I think. I've arranged to hand over a case of broad-spectrum inoculations to the colony when we arrive. Medicine is a luxury in fringe worlds; and preventative medicine is better than a cure. The vials are fragile and the content quite valuable; so it seemed prudent to take precaution. Here's what I need:..."

Yomim tucks one little arm behind his back, begins to pace officiously, and looks up as if into some heavenly vault of his own thought while his other arm gesticulates vaguely.

"First stop by the primary cargo pod. Against the starboard wall, you'll find a cabinet full of alloy breifcases. Grab a medium sized one with - and this is important - a stasis pod-lock. It looks like a little digital display, with a round slot for a stasis cell."

"You'll need to get a stasis cell from engineering. Find someone who knows their Omni-tool and have them install the cell. I'll feel a whole lot better knowing it can't be dropped or kicked without the stasis cell preserving the content."

"Once you've got the case lit up, head over to the infirmary and have Vaenia load up the innoculants, and bring it back here."

He draws in a wheezing breath, and then appends the extra note.

"And then don't let it out of your sight. There, Leeta Thessia-clan. A task and a half. Do you suppose you can do it?" He taps his clippy claws together, pensively.

[Ridai]

Habitually, Leeta has explored the ship already, so as Yomim speaks, the well-trained part of her brain for pathfinding is busy mapping where to go. She flashes him a winning smile. "Absolutely! I'll be right back," the asari responds enthusiastically and takes her leave, heading to the elevator. Most of the crew is probably having breakfast right now, so that's where she is headed, recalling a few talented turians among the crew. Merely having to follow the chatter, Leeta's body instinctively tenses up as she spots the crowd.

No, it's safe here. Deep breath. Positive thoughts. And the search for a tech-savvy turian begins.

[Hazuki]

Yomim

Captain Hrux watches Leeta leaves the deck and head down the stairs to the living quarters. Once she's gone, he looks back at Yomim and taps his fingers on the arm of the chair. "I strongly advise taking one of our security with you. Somebody obviously armed, and just one.." He advises the Volus.

[Comissar]

Vatia clears off her plate mere moments before Leeta enters the room. She doesn't spot the Asari's arrival immediately, however. Instead, it's only when she's returning her plate and cutlery to one of the stands to be washed that she notices Leeta anxiously looking out over the crowd. Briefly taking a moment to scan the crowd herself, and seeing nobody seemed to be paying the Asari much attention, she turned and headed over toward the woman.

"Hey. You ok?" She half turned to look out over the assembled diners, glancing back at Leeta briefly, "You're looking a bit lost."

[Ridai]

"What? Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine," Leeta chuckles sheepishly. Still more tense than she thought. "Vatia, was it? I'm running an errand for Mr. Osheer, get a case of medicine for the colonists." Brief pause, shifting weight from one foot onto the other, habitually glancing away for a moment. "Say, you don't happen to have a bit of time and know how to handle stasis locks and cells, do you?" When in doubt... ask every turian available.

[Comissar]

Vatia nodded in response to Leeta's question, an amused tone entering her voice "That's right, Vatia Alesis, at your service."

She tilted her head as she listened to the Asari, "I know my way around electronics," She kept her tone light, trying to put the woman at ease, "I'm sure that between the two of us we could figure it out."

Leeta's nervousness surprised Vatia, so often when she dealt with Asari they exuded an air of confidence. Maybe this one was still young. That was the problem with aliens, ageing barely seemed to change how they looked. Idly, Vatia wondered if they thought the same of Turians.

[Ridai]

Leeta brightens the atmosphere with a radiant smile. "Great! Shall we?" Brimming with energy, she brings Vatia along with her, walking with swift steps away from the big crowd. "We'll need to go to engineering first, get a cell, then to main cargo, and the infirmary after that. Really looking forward to seeing the colony," Leeta speaks in her cheerful, pleasant voice, calmer now that things are more quiet.

[Comissar]

Vatia nods, bemused at the Asari's abrupt change in mood. She's more than happy to let her lead the way, simply glancing around the corridors as they walk, as well as giving a friendly nod whenever they pass somebody coming the other way. She nods along as Leeta lists off the tasks they'll need to complete.

"Yeah, I agree. It's always interesting to step onto a new world, even if it's only new to you. Once you get a taste for it, it's hard to just stay in one place."

[Ridai]

Leeta gives a quick laugh. "Ain't that the truth. Still got so much left to see and do, a millenium seems hardly enough to scratch the surface. If one has the luxury of spending all that time to explore, that is, and I doubt many are that lucky." Keeping an eye on her surroundings, she still looks to Vatia from time to time (once even walking backwards, stepping around a salarian crossing their path as she goes), body language and gestures very much fitting the obvious enthusiasm that is audible.

[Comissar]

Vatia chuckles, shaking her head, "A millenium... Heh..." Turians hadn't even been on the council for much more than a millenia, and Leeta threw the figure around like it was normal, "Tell you what, we'll compare notes when we're done, see who's seen the most."

[Ridai]

"Looking forward to it, but don't expect too much, I haven't been travelling for long so far." A bit more bounce enters Leeta's steps, fueled by anticipation.

[Comissar]

Vatia's mandibles twitched with amusement. Uncertain of herself, oblivious to others mortality, and only just leaving Asari space? She must be young. Nevertheless, her naïveté carried a certain charm.

Well, long may that continue...

Turning her eyes forward, she saw the signs pointing to Engineering. "Ah, looks like we're nearly there. And we're looking for a cell, you said?" Turning a corner, the doors to the engineering bay opened before her, "Know what kind of cell?"

[Ridai]

"A stasis cell for the stasis pod-lock on those transport briefcases. They should have a few of those lying around, right?" Leeta ducks under a part of the door sliding out of the way, also waving hello to a passing engineer.

[Comissar]

Vatia nods, "I'd imagine so," She starts to walk along the benches, a frown on her face, "Just a matter of finding one... At worst, we just ask where they're kept."

She glanced up to check who else was around. The bay looked pretty empty, most people probably at breakfast, but there were a couple of humans working on something or other at one of the computers.

[Implodio]

Captain Hrux:"I strongly advise taking one of our security with you. Somebody obviously armed, and just one.."

"If it'll make you feel more comfortable, Captain. If you have a recommendation, I would cheerfully accept it." Another mechanical blink, with the whisper of tiny servos and the illusion of thoughtful interest in his "eyes".

[Hazuki]

"There's a young human gal by the name of Abanda, part of the security - hails from Earth, troubled youth, bit of an ego, you know the type." Captain Hrux explains, as he folds his chunky fingers together and meets the Volus' eye-lenses. "I think if we give her some responsibility, show she's got some trust from the higher-ups, and she'll be a little more comfortable around the rest of the crew. What do you think?"

[Ridai]

There's the usual array of storage units and Leeta also sees a terminal to keep inventory, which she promptly walks towards. Probably the most important thing: don't ever take something without making a note of it, or you'll get hell from whoever needs to stay on top of that. The interface obviously is different from what she usually dealt with, as the ship and thus its systems are turian design, but turians design cleanly and efficiently. All the charm of a spreadsheet for the most part, but you get things done quick with little fuss.

"Hmm, let's see... oh, there we go," Leeta mumbles to herself, navigating the menu, quickly getting the hang of things, more or less. She turns to the nearby humans and chirps "Hey folks, we are running an errand for the XO. Would you mind if we took one of the stasis cells? The..." Leeta's fingers scroll the list a bit, not really familiar with the names of the models, but seeing that the container types are quite different (good ol' galactic standards), she can guess what she is looking for. "smaller ones, for one of those briefcases in cargo." Yup, real technical.

[Comissar]

Vatia half-turns her head as Leeta asks the engineers about the cells, ready to back her up if they questioned her. Her mandibles twitched in amusement at the Asari's in-depth description of the items, having to turn her head away and cough to disguise the start of a chuckle.

[Hazuki]

The nearest human engineer luckily doesn't seem to be too busy, kneeling beside a storage container and fiddling with her omni-tool in a way that makes it look like she's busy, but is probably just checking her mail. "Sure?" She replies, pulling herself to her feet with a soft grunt and tugging on her woolen hat. "You can take one, if you fancy, but do you know how to install 'em?" She asks, shooting an odd glance at Vatia.

[Ridai]

"Vatia has the know-how for that. Thanks!" A few rapid-fire taps on the console and the retrieval is documented. Fast steps take Leeta to a specific rack of equipment, where she gingerly steps onto a container with one foot to reach one higher up, the process of opening it, plucking a cell from inside, and closing barely taking two seconds. Returning to Vatia, Leeta hands the stasis cell to her. "There we go. Onwards to the land of cargo."

[Comissar]

Composing herself, Vatia turned to the two engineers and gave them a nod of thanks. "I should be able to work it out."

She turns her attention back to Leeta just in time to see the Asari plucking the cell from its container. Blinking in surprise at how quickly the alien was moving, she took the cell off of her without a word.

"There we go. Onwards to the land of cargo."

"Ah, sure." She nodded at the two humans, "Thanks again."

Following the Asari's lead, she lengthened her stride a little to keep pace with the light-footed woman.

[Ridai]

Merrily leading the way, there was not much to talk about, so as they heading further back into the ship, Leeta (remembering the surprised look she was given) mentions "I worked all sorts of jobs back home and while travelling, and gopher was one of them. 'Course, with big storage space, you just stick a VI and a couple of robots for it in there and call it a day, but on a small scale, it was usually faster if someone just went in the backroom and grabbed it. That and working with instructions like 'Gemme tha' froggy googoomool' or 'This one urgently requests a spherical muse most incandescent' still remain a tough nut to crack for standard-issue inventory systems."

They open the door to the main cargo pod and step into it. "So you get good at finding what you need and finding it fast. And after a while, there are only so many standardized containers and legalese classifications for things that you find your way around those things in your slee-" Leeta tugs on the door of the cabinet they are looking for while speaking to Vatia, but except for a metallic rattle, the door refuses do anything. After a short moment of awkward silence, followed by two more rattling tugs, Leeta gives a little grumble and kicks the corner of the door. Immediately, Leeta yanks the handle of the cabinet door upwards and out, finally opening the door and revealing the briefcases. "and that these things' doors are as busted as they were twenty years ago and they are freakin' everywhere. Our greatest minds let us travel faster than light, build huge stations in space and figured out how to travel across the galaxy, but boy oh boy, the mystery of the cabinet remains unsolved."

And with that, the asari steps out of the way to let a professional do professional work.

[Comissar]

Vatia nods in response to Leeta's explanation, "Ah, that makes sense then."

She can't help but be amused at the Asari's description of serving other aliens. When the locker door jams, her surprised reaction to the obstacle drew a chuckle. "Heh, give them time, I'm sure someone will get around to it. Such a pressing issue rarely has little interest."

She ambles over to the cabinet as Leeta steps aside. Running her hand down the row of briefcases, she quirks her head at the Asari, "Just any one of them?"

Will Vatia need to make a check to open a case with the lock?

[Ridai]

"Yeah, I think so. Mr. Osheer would've pointed something out otherwise, I imagine." Leeta leans in to watch the process of attaching the stasis cell to the lock and power-on the cooling for the medicine soon to be inside the briefcase. Clearly, she is mentally taking notes, curious whether there are specific things to pay special attention to.

[Comissar]

Vatia just nods in response. Selecting a case, she carefully pulls it out. The weight was a little more than she was expecting, probably due to the in-built electronics. Walking over to a bench, she laid the case down with the input socket facing up.

"Ok... Let's see..."

Slotting the cell into the socket, she rotated the device so that it was firmly attached, a soft click confirming that it was in place. At the same moment, a digital display sprung to life on the cell's screen. At the same time, her omni-tool pinged, indicating a nearby device wanting to interface. Raising her arm in front of her, her omni-tool sprung to life. She frowned as she spun through the setting options. She hadn't done anything exactly like this before, but it was a simple piece of kit, it shouldn't be rocket science to get it to turn on.

"Ah, this looks promising." She glanced over at Leeta, "You said it was for medicines, right?"

Once she got confirmation, she nodded and adjusted the settings. Medicines implied vials, which would need to be shielded as quickly as possible in case of jostling. It was more of a drain on the cell's charge, but risking damage to something potentially life saving wasn't an option. She frowned again as she double checked the other options. Some of the drain could be mitigated if the stasis was dropped once motion had stopped, no risk of breakages at that point. Of course it'd need to be kept cool, too. No good if the medicine got mouldy.

Temperature extremes..?

She hesitated. It'd definitely be something you'd want to protect it from, but it'd also be another thing for the cell to constantly be checking, and would ultimately drain it faster. Was it likely to end up in a position where it was a serious risk..? Probably not. Nodding to herself, she activated the cell. A light briefly winked green, followed by a soft whine as the cell turned itself on.

"I think... That does it!"

[Ridai]

Leeta is quite engrossed in the process, eyebrows raising at times when a particular realization revealed itself, whistling when Vatia is done.

"By the goddess, that was quick. And the field calibrations would have been way more slapdash if I had been in your place." Leeta picks up the briefcase in order to gopher it over to the infirmary. "Have you done a lot of this on various ships? You know, electronic, comms, shields, that sort of thing?" she asks as they head to the next stop.

[Comissar]

Vatia gives Leeta a shrug as they set off. "Nothing like this specifically, but I've worked with electronics a lot before now." She tilts her head, "You know how Turian's serve in the military for a while before going on to other things? We get a fairly broad training, and we're expected to know our way around any standard equipment we're likely to run into. The cell," She gestures at the case, "isn't too different to some of the tech I had to familiarise myself with."

As the pair walk, Vatia keeps half an eye out to make sure they weren't going off on the wrong pathways.

"As to communications..." She shrugs again, "It just felt like the role with the best fit for me on a civilian ship. It's not really any different to military comms," Her tone takes on an amused note, "though there are fewer security codes you have to memorise."

[Ridai]

"Ohh, I see, I see," Leeta says in response to Vatia explaining her training.

When the security codes are mentioned, Leeta chuckles heartily. "Always good to have fewer Whiskey Tango Foxtrots, as the humans say."

Reaching the infirmary, the asari looks for Vaenia, cheerily greeting her as soon as she sees her. "Hullo, the XO sent us to fetch broad-spectrum innoculants for the colony folks. We've get a briefcase prepped and everything." Said briefcase is promptly presented.

[Implodio]

"There's a young human gal by the name of Abanda, part of the security - hails from Earth, troubled youth, bit of an ego, you know the type." Captain Hrux explains, as he folds his chunky fingers together and meets the Volus' eye-lenses. "I think if we give her some responsibility, show she's got some trust from the higher-ups, and she'll be a little more comfortable around the rest of the crew. What do you think?"

Yomim rolled a little arm in the air; the universal rolling affirmative, yes, yes, of course, go on. His eye shutters gave two snippy blinks, which may approximate to a smile perhaps. Or an eyeroll? No; definately a smile.

"Suit her up, cover her in guns, and have her track me down, Captain. I trust your judgement implicitly." He began to waddle away, though paused to point an arm back at the Krogan in faux warning.

"But if she gets me killed... we will have stern words, you and I. Stern words." And off he went on his second constitutional of the day.

[Hazuki]

Just moments after Yomim has walked away from Captain Hrux and is waddling on his way, Captain Hrux's voice comes calmly through all of the ship's speakers. "We're being hailed by an unidentified ship. Get to your stations, everyone." He instructs.

[Implodio]

Yomim wheels around, suddenly alert, and takes his place on the bridge - a spot clear enough to see all the goings on without being in anyone's way!

[Comissar]

Vatia quirks her head as the captain's announcement begins. "I'm afraid that's my cue to leave. I'm sure Vaenia is more than capable of helping you with the next steps." She turns, walking toward the bridge with long strides. Briefly, she calls over her shoulder, "Let me know how it goes when you're done!"

Leaving the Asari with the Salarian doctor, Vatia marched through the corridors swiftly. She quickly brought up her omni-tool as she walked. She wasn't far away, but it'd be good to notify the bridge that she wouldn't be there immediately. "Vatia reporting Captain, I'm en route, should be with you momentarily."

Soon enough she found herself on the bridge, noting Yomim and the Captain already present. Of course they would be, they'd only just finished a jump. Seating herself at her station, she patched herself into the Comms frequency, then looked over to the Captain expectantly for orders.

[Ridai]

Leeta freezes in her step as she hears the announcement. Her head snaps towards Vatia when the turian addresses her, the asari quickly nodding. "Okay, will do!" she calls after her, unable to sound completely composed. Continuing onwards to the infirmary, every step is a little faster and lighter than intended, always sure to make way for people and looking around out of habit, until she reaches her goal. In case the doc wants to know what she is doing there, Leeta replies "I'll explain when things quiet down." and gestures lightly with the briefcase, before asking "Can I help with anything in the meantime?"

[Hazuki]

Yomim & Vatia

The air on deck has shifted from a casual "morning" to that of palpable intensity. The crew, no longer bleary-eyed, sit upright in their seats and monitor their relative stations to the steady hum of a decelerating mass effect drive. Captain Hrux somehow manages to seem relaxed, as he lists off the stations that are being filled on his omni-tool.

"Weapons, shielding, e-warfare..." The Krogan leans back in his chair and glances at Vatia with a pair of beady eyes, and cues her with a tip of his finger. "Open communications." He instructs her.

After just long enough to wonder whether the communications have been opened, a soft male voice comes through the speakers. "Welcome to the Tidesof Folly." It greets, with an unplaceable accent - although it is definitely a human voice. "What is your purpose here?"

"We're a scouting ship." Captain Hrux answers, with a crisp and professional tone. "We didn't expect to find another ship waiting for us at this end of the relay. Or any ships."

There's no response for a few moments, then the voice replies. "Our Captain would like to speak with you before you go any further. You can turn back, or meet us at these co-ordinates, where we will dock our ships together and you will send over your Captain and anyone else you wish."

Captain Hrux looks over at Yomim, his head slightly tilted as though waiting for input.

If you'd like to do anything with the signal, it will likely require a Clever check.

~

Leeta

The infirmary is just as clean and organized as one might expect of a proper doctor, with most of it dominated by sterile surfaces and almost no debris cluttering the desk or walls. The only thing that stands out against the sleek grey and pristine whites of medical equipment is the doctor herself; a charcoal-skinned Salarian with faint markings that are almost golden in color, with contrasts quite wonderfully with her ivory scrubs.

Vaenia is just about to sit at her desk when the Asari walks in, and she spins her chair around with snake-like grace to meet Leeta's eyes. "In the infirmary?" She asks, her lips twitching at the corner. "You're out of luck."

[Ridai]

"Ah." Leeta knows when she is unwanted, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. After a moment of awkward silence (well, it qualifies as "later") "The XO sent me to fetch broad-spectrum innoculants for the colonists." Not meeting her gaze for long, Leeta glances to the side, suddenly feeling very out of place. "If you... want to wait until things are clear" She gestures without direction, straight towards the bridge. "I'll just wait here... if you don't mind."

[Implodio]

Yomim's lens shutters blink rapidly and he looks sharply to Hrux as he listens. The image of a wolf asking a sheep to kindly cover itself in sauce and sit still comes to mind, and he waves his arm side to side and shakes his head in an emphatic hell no.

[Comissar]

"Aye, sir."

Vatia turns to her station, hands flying over the console as she enables the communications channel. She takes a moment to ensure it's properly encrypted, better safe than sorry after all, before patching into the hailing frequency. She glanced over to the Captain, nodding to confirm the channel was open.

As the mystery ship and the Captain conversed, she scanned the instruments in front of her, monitoring them for anything unusual. She frowns at the delay in the human's responses, was there lag over the channels? She took a moment to double check her settings, making sure nothing had accidentally been altered.

Just trying to encrypt it. Let me know if I do this wrong (or if you want a roll to check for equipment problems)!

[roll0] +2

[Hazuki]

Leeta

"It's doable." Vaenia replies, as she shifts to her feet and strolls over to one of the lockers that line the walls of her infirmary. Within a few seconds, she's retrieved an armful of small opaque packages that she carries over to her desk and stacks up. "The briefcase?" She asks, holding her hand out to the Asari.

~

Yomim & Vatia

"That's not on the table." Captain Hrux replies. "A fight's not worth it at this point, and we don't know who you are. So why don't you share a little about yourselves and we'll see what we can do to get this sorted out?"

Another pause. "We're looking out for our people, Captain. And we'd rather not talk about it over these channels."

Vatia is able to double-check her equipment for any oddities, but she doesn't find anything wrong. She's quite quickly able to encrypt communications, and in doing so, is able to identify that the other speaker is likely waiting for orders or instructions between their replies.

Vatia can allow another character to invoke this aspect for free, should she so wish.

[Ridai]

Without a word, Leeta places the briefcase onto the desk.

[Comissar]

Vatia frowns as she listens to the exchange. She could think of a couple of reasons for why the hailing vessel's Captain might have to wait for instructions at every step, and she wasn't sure she liked any of them. Bringing her omni-tool, she typed out 'Captain, the hailing ship is receiving instruction from another source.', sending the message the moment she was finished. She glanced round at Captain Hrux to confirm he'd received it.

So, two things. Thing 1; I'm not sure how strict the protocol on this kind of thing would be on a non-military ship, but I think Vatia would be aware. If Vatia knows she must not verbally interrupt the Captain during communications, she will try and signal him to catch his attention. If she knows she is allowed to interrupt, she'll do the following instead (which I will edit into the above post proper);

Briefly muting the outgoing feed when a period of quiet presented itself, she announced "Captain, the hailing ship is receiving instruction from another source." Message delivered, she quickly unmuted the feed.

Thing 2; Is it possible for Vatia to try and identify where the hailing ship is receiving instruction from? I don't know if this is too far beyond the bounds of what is possible for her at the Comms station, it kinda feels more E-Warfare than anything. Regardless, roll below should it be doable (Assuming smart).

[roll0] +2

Will also add as an IC comment (should this be allowed, otherwise never mind :smalltongue:);

Once she was facing her station again, Vatia frowned as she tried to isolate any other signals passing through their region of space, hoping to find the source of the hailing ships instructions.

[Implodio]

Yomim has been aboard ships that have fallen for such tricks before. The other vessel may be "looking out for their people", certainly. But when everyone is looking out for themselves, you can only trust your people to make the right decision when all the chips go flying.

He spools up his own omnitool, and suggests elements of the engineering crew take the preparatory measures that served the SSV Lincoln well in the past - booting the Eezo cycler, flexing the idling field distenders, and so forth. He gesticulates to Hrux, too - tapping a nearby monitor as if to suggest solid ground, or a neutral landing place where they might meet their interlocutors without exposing themselves so critically by docking with them. If they're serious.

I would like to Cleverly create the scene aspect "Ready to Rock and Roll" for the Sparrow.

Dice 1: [roll0]
Dice 2: [roll1]
Dice 3: [roll2]
Dice 4: [roll3]
Clever: +3

[Hazuki]

Leeta

Vaenia flicks open the briefcase and neatly tucks the innoculants in, then closes it back up and holds it out to Leeta. "Inoculate yourself out." She adds, almost cheerfully.

~

Vatia & Yomim

Captain Hrux nods at Vatia. "I hear you; we're doing the same thing." He replies, as he pulls up one of the old starmaps of the region and scans it for a few moments. "Let's find somewhere a little less exposed to meet up. Got any recommendations?"

After a now-expected delay, the other man replies. "Fenrel's second moon, the big crater. We can keep an eye on each other while our people meet, if you have the gear for it."

"We can scrounge something up." Captain Hrux says, and the sound of cut communications is his reply. "I'm thinking...shuttle."

[Ridai]

Leeta avoids eye contact, takes the briefcase, says "Thank you," and leaves quickly before her face's shade grows even darker. As she makes her way back to the bridge, the asari keeps her head down and just tries to stay out of the way of anyone who has something to do.

Feel free to use that thorough embarassment against Leeta.

[Comissar]

"Sounds like we've made some new friends..."

More loudly she announces, "Communications cut Captain, should I attempt to re-establish?"

An obvious statement, and a fairly inane one at that. It felt clear to her that it was a deliberate action by the hailing ship, and there was probably no point in trying to hail them back, but she wasn't about to break the chain of command or protocol just because of her feeling on the matter.

[Implodio]

Hearing the negotiation from Hrux's side of it, Yomim untenses and begins strutting off towards the shuttlebay. As he passes Vatia at the communication station, he flags her along with his claw; having decided, perhaps based entirely on this momentary display of competence, that she would be a fine part of the shuttle team. Leeta receives a similar come along wave as the determined little creature passes by the infirmary's internal window.

He wondered if any of them, or even Abanda, could fly a shuttle better than he could manage.

[Ridai]

Running into Yomim and Vatia immediately after leaving the infirmary only makes things worse, Leeta quietly trailing behind the others and trying to stay out of sight for now.

I don't know what Approach is the basic assumption for flying a shuttle, but if it is Quick (perhaps even Flashy to make quite an entrance), we could have a fun little "learning by doing" scene with perhaps surprising results, whether good or bad.

[Comissar]

Vatia glances between Yomim and Captain Hrux, an eyebrow raised at the Volus' request. Apparently he didn't intend to explain, though. Standing from her station, she gave Captain Hrux a last look before following after Yomim. Though he was several paces ahead of her, it did not take long for her to close the gap between them. "Do you mind if I ask what your plan is here, sir?"

She gives Leeta a friendly wave when the pair walk past her. Glancing back at her, she whispers, "Hey, all sorted?"

[Ridai]

Leeta nods back with a shaky, semi-forced smile, the asari mentally working to get herself back into shape again.

[Implodio]

"The plan, Ms. Vatia -", it seemed he knew all the crew by name; the mark of a good employer or alternatively an obsessive one, "- is that we will take the shuttle down to the established rendezvous when the Sparrow comes within drop range. We - the three of you, and I - will assess their intentions and try to broker an arrangement. Failing that, we run back to the shuttle and escape in an exciting hail of gunfire." This prophecy is pronounced with eerie good cheer and assurance.

"Any questions?"

[Ridai]

While the mention of gunfire sounds worrying... the excitement about the situation as a whole is stronger. "Can I fly the shuttle?" Leeta asks immediately (she might as well have said "Shotgun!"), already holding the imaginary pen ready to check another item on that long, long list of hers.

[Hazuki]

The trio arrives in the shuttle bay, stocked with two fully functional Fenix LUs. A popular military shuttle design that's known for its speed more than its armoring (Almost a necessity, in the wake of "handloading" that made it much easier for criminals to acquire specialized ammunition in 1901 CE), and comes equipped with Elanus Risk Control Services' L-122 rapid-fire Grenade Launcher and a Kassa Fabrication light cannon (Specifically requested by Captain Hrux).

A nearby wall houses most of the armory, filled with numerous smaller crates that the crew can use to hold their armor, as well as some stock variants for non-security personnel. It's standing beside the counter here that the crew spots Abanda, an ebony-skinned young woman clad in full Fairlight armor and her hair pulled tightly into a bun.

"You'll want to get suited up first." Abanda warns Leeta, as she swaggers over to the shuttle they'll be taking. She flashes the trio a lopsided grin. "I'm Abanda, but you can call me," She pulls on the helmet she was holding at her side, and locks it on her head with a firm click. "The Biz." Rather noticeable is the weaponry strapped over her armor, which includes a shotgun, a rifle, a pistol at her hip, and a knife on the opposite thigh, which some might call excessive.

[Comissar]

Vatia frowns at Yomim's explanation. "Several. First one is, do we know what kind of terrain we're meeting on? They set the location, right? How do we know we're not walking into a trap if we don't scope it out first?"

Entering the shuttle bay, she heads over to the weapons stand, picking out a pistol and a sniper. Ideally she'd need neither, but... Better to have and not need. She fights the urge to roll her eyes at Abanda's greeting, instead offering her hand. "Vatia Alesis, a pleasure to meet you."

[Ridai]

"Hello Miss Biz, I'm Leeta," Leeta greets back, giving a wave while still carrying the briefcase. "Suit. Space, right." The asari heads over to look for a space suit and somewhere to put it on.

[Hazuki]

Abanda shakes Vatia's hand as Leeta goes off in search of a sealed suit to wear. It's quite easy to find one that will fit her.

[Ridai]

One hand carrying the briefcase, space suit (and a small, empty bag) tucked under the other arm, Leeta heads over to a nearby shuttle. Elbowing the controls, the asari tries to open a shuttle door and head inside, finding herself a quiet corner to put on the suit.

[Implodio]

"Can I fly the shuttle?" Leeta asks immediately...

"Absolutely. It was the first thought in my head when I waved you along, Thessia-Clan. I suspect you will find it very much in your wheelhouse, as the Earth-Clan say. Speaking Earth-Clan..."


"I'm Abanda, but you can call me," She pulls on the helmet she was holding at her side, and locks it on her head with a firm click. "The Biz." Rather noticeable is the weaponry strapped over her armor, which includes a shotgun, a rifle, a pistol at her hip, and a knife on the opposite thigh, which some might call excessive.

"Good grief, Biz-Clan. He actually covered you in guns. Well, I trust you to point them in the right direction, Biz-Clan. The Captain personally recommended your talents; I look forward to them hopefully not being necessary today."


Vatia frowns at Yomim's explanation. "Several. First one is, do we know what kind of terrain we're meeting on? They set the location, right? How do we know we're not walking into a trap if we don't scope it out first?"

Hustling over to the shuttle's door, Yomim pauses with the modicum of decency required not to barge in on the impromptu ladies' changing room. He counts off Vatia's questions on his claw-fingers as he addresses them, using the left as the counter and the right to tap them. "One - yes, in a crater caldera on Fenral's second moon. Vital stats of the moon itself are something we can familiarize ourselves with in transit. They set the location, but the Sparrow will scout and scan it from above and if it looks unfavorable, we might just stay home." He counted to the second claw on the exo-suit. "Two, yes, they set the location. But we don't have detail enough to know our own preferred ground yet; and refusing to meet might have provoked a ship-to-ship battle we cannot afford, Palaven-Clan. Three -..."

Since his exosuit's claws are simple pincers, he runs out of digits to count on, pauses for a moment, and resorts to gesticulating wildly instead.

"Three, we shall scope it out as best we can - but there is always going to be risk. Risk versus reward is the basic equation of all life's interactions, and all things considered, this is a risk I am willing to walk into personally."

That much was clear. Like all Volus, he was poorly built for frontline combat. An ambush would go worst for the portly investor out of the four in the landing party, so at least he was putting his money where his mouth was.

[Hazuki]

"I wouldn't be here if I couldn't, Sir." Abanda grins at the Volus through her visor, then climbs into the shuttle once Leeta has finished suiting and setting up in the pilot seat. The armored-up woman takes the co-pilot's seat in the comparatively cramped quarters (Which is saying something, considering it's a mil-spec vehicle ot begin with). "I've got basic training, so I'll take care of the guns here." She informs the Asari, as she taps her fingers over assorted dangerous-looking buttons.

As they settle into the shuttle itself, and wait for Leeta to get everything launched, Vatia and Yomim's omni-tools (As well as the cockpit computers) light up with a collection of information from their (outdated) star maps of the area, regarding their destination. Fenrel's gravity is roughly 1.017 m/s2, or roughly one ninth of the Galactic standard. Its atmosphere consists largely of Hydrogen and Potassium, and apparently its crust is just barely dense enough to support a fully-grown Turian's weight without steadily sinking.

A line directly to the co-pilot and sensor specialist is opened up, but she doesn't seem to have any information to share while the Sparrow hums its way over to the second moon of Fenral. Not until they reach the point where Leeta will be able to launch that she says something.

"And here we go: So far, everything matches up with the starmap. Tracks on the planet, previous landings, but there's no wreckage anywhere, so unless we're gonna spend a few days scanning the atmosphere, we're pretty sure that nobody else has been attacked here. Another ship, not too much bigger than the Sparrow, is coming round the opposite way, but not at skirmishing speed, so, good news for us. Everything's raised and you're good to go."

[Ridai]

"Oh, that's good to hear," Leeta responds to Abanda, meaning the asari can focus all of her barely existant training on figuring out the normally harmless buttons that can still kill everyone if the pilot doesn't know what they're doing. And in Leeta's case, one can hope that her companions gain a comfortable sense of security from the quiet clicking of the asari's tongue as she examines the various buttons, controls and readouts.

When the go signal comes, Leeta responds (luckily having found the comm button before): "Alright, taking off." And after a deep breath, she begins to operate the shuttle with the definite confidence of an educated guess (which may or may not involve a good helping of forward thrust). "And here we... go."

Quick (+3) [roll0]

[Comissar]

Vatia listened to Yomim's summation with a frown. Ideally, she'd want more time to scout it out first, make sure there were no traps waiting for them. But... There wasn't really the time. She'd just have to stay on her guard. Rather than comment, she just nods her understanding. Grabbing a helmet, she secured it to her suit before heading over to the waiting vehicle.

Clambering into the shuttle, she tried her best to not intrude too much on the others personal space. Turian military ships were often cramped, but she was aware that other species tended to prefer having a little more room to themselves. During the transit to the moon, she brought up her omni-tool and read through the data being fed in. Close to standard gravity was good, no real need to adjust movements or aim should fighting prove necessary. As they made their final approach, she glanced up to the pilot's seat. The opaque surface of her helmet masked her expression as she frowned over at Leeta. The Asari had seemed rather naive when she'd spoken to her before, not much more than a kid taking her first steps out of her home system, even if she was probably three times her age. Shaking her head, Vatia turned her attention back to her omni-tool. Focus on not letting it descend into a firefight first, worry about looking out for someone only when it reached that point.

[Implodio]

The volus reads his Omni-tool's feed with the mild disinterest of a man who was already supremely confident everything was going to be fine; and to whom anything but catastrophic news is confirmation of his own cleverness.

The mass effect field on the shuttle's contra-gravity engine should prevent it from sinking into the planet's surface, and the flat-panel base of the machine might mitigate that effect on its own. He'd keep an eye on Abanda when she disembarked to make sure she wasn't weighed down terminally by her guns.

"Soft crust, so watch your step. Abanda's primary objective is to keep me in one piece, so if complications happen, Vatia will take the lead. Atmosphere is unbreathable... Just for a change..." He grumbled, wheezing through his breath cyclers. Her waffled on like this, dispensing completely unearned wisdom on the procedures to come and a number of possible outcomes; all of which ended in an artificially sunny conclusion without sacrificing practicality. Then he gripped the arms of his chair as Leeta took them in, either validating his faith in her piloting skills or killing them all instantly.

[Hazuki]

Leeta manages to at least not crash the shuttle as they disembark from the Sparrow, and the shuttle is soon making its way down to the moon's crater. The landing requires some aid from Abanda, along with a reminder about altering the engine so the shuttle doesn't sink when they land, until they land somewhere near the center of the rippled crater. Abanda is the first to swing over to the main passenger-carrying part of the tunnel, waiting for the all-clear through her omni-tool before she retrieves her assault rifle and pulls open the door of the shuttle.

They're greeted by the sight of a silvery-white surface, the rim of the crater on the nearby horizon, and another shuttle coming in to park against the canvas of stars. Abanda keeps her weapon in control as she steps off of the shuttle, tests the ground with a light push of her boot, and walks out properly. She doesn't seem to be sinking.

[Ridai]

Leeta is not aware how the ride is for the others (though all in all, it's going remarkably smoothly), but for her, it's pure magic. Another triumphant tick on the list.

"Oh hey, that went pretty well!" Leeta judges her piloting once they've landed, the asari all sunshine and rainbows once more, and since it wouldn't be all that appropiate to do the physical version, she gives Abanda the verbal equivalent of a hug for her help. Soon, she exits the shuttle as well, going for her first space walk (another box checked), taking a little moment to enjoy how walking around in somewhat lower gravity on a sort of mushy planet feels like.

[Comissar]

As the shuttle touches down, Vatia gives her tactical read out a final once over. Nodding to herself, she looks up at the side door in time to see it open to the moon beyond. Noting that Abanda had her weapon drawn and held already, she left her own gear holstered. She was confident enough in her draw speed that she felt the benefits of appearing friendlier outweighed the potential risk of combat.

She followed Abanda and Leeta out onto the surface, her foot settling into the soil with a soft crunch. Walking forward, she nodded her head at the Asari, "Well done, that was good flying."

[Ridai]

Leeta grins and gives her thanks with a stage bow and an added flourish. "Really, though, I'm just glad things went this well. I don't think I'd have stuck the landing without Abanda."

[Hazuki]

"Naitch." Abanda says, absolutely oozing with smugness as she starts to pose on the soft crust. Then remembers her trigger discipline, and swiftly lowers her rifle again.

[Implodio]

Yomim, with stern, faux-paternal subtlety of approval, gives Leeta a nod; though he is principally concerned with eyeballing the area and seeking the ambush he just assured his companions would not manifest.

[Hazuki]

The group is left waiting for only a few minutes, standing on the chilly surface of the moon, before the shuttle flies into view. It's nothing more than a gunmetal grey shuttle, an old design that Yomim might recognize as designed by Nashan Stellar Dynamics (Notable for their involvement with early human colonization, and one of the potential drawbacks of working with human corporations thanks to their scandals with human supremacists). It's visibly unarmed.

The shuttle comes to land roughly one hundred feet away from the group, its engine still humming just above the surface, as the door is slowly pulled open and out march a small group of soldiers. Although their helmets are obscured, their shape identifies them as human, and they line up, three on each side of the shuttle. Somebody with a keen eye for detail would notice that their armor has been utterly scrubbed of any paint or markings, leaving it a rather dull grey, and their assault rifles don't quite match.

The last figure to emerge is similarly armored, but unarmed, and strides out of the shuttle with purpose. It is ornamented by a cloak that seems almost intact, compared to the armor and shuttle of the group, that flutters behind him (And is especially notable, as cloaks are most commonly used in high-class women's fashion nowadays). From his gait alone, he's obviously Turian, and walks a good twenty feet ahead of his lined-up soldiers. He gestures to them, and five of them holster their guns across their backs, then waves the Sparrow's crew to meet him halfway.

[Implodio]

Yomim looks at the disproportionate parties. Almost two to one, in a bad moment. But there was nothing to do about that now.

He began the low-grav stroll toward the half way point. In a show that could be equally attributed to cheek, insecurity, or stupidity, Yomim mirrors the Turian's "disarm" wave back to his team. Of course, his team has one gun drawn already, and with no way to draw down to one gun -again-, nothing results except puzzlement.

When he arrives at the halfway point, he settles his pincer hands on his hips and looks up into the face of the Turian interlocuter.

"Well?"

[Ridai]

Leeta follows, her already light, adroit steps gaining a bit of extra je ne sais quoi from the lowered gravity. Instinctually, she is also very aware how to get the best grip on the ground with her boots and just so happens to have a clear shot to the shuttle from her position just behind Abanda, the armory on human's person exerting gravitational pull on the gunless asari in this situation for various reasons.

[Comissar]

Hidden by her visor, Vatia's expression turns to one of concern. A human over the comms, but a Turian meeting in person. The actual person in charge? Or another proxy? Her mandibles twitched as they drew closer. The number of personnel the Turian had bought with him, and the fact they were all armed, was worrying. She fought the urge to glance over at Abanda, instead trusting in the human woman's trigger discipline.

The thing to do was seem confident. She walked as calmly as she could, slowing to a stop just shy of Yomim's right shoulder.

"Well?"

She closed her eyes, mandibles twitching again. Confidence was one thing. This was entirely another. Hopefully the Turian wouldn't take offence to Yomim's tone.

[Hazuki]

"You read my mind! Partially, at least." The Turian clears his throat and makes a gesture to the moon around them. "Welcome to the Tides of Folly. Accompanying me are men and women from the colony of Angel Valley, who've volunteered to help improve the lot of their families, and have graciously accepted me as their leader. You," He bows. "May call me Super Dragon."

[Implodio]

There is a moment pause, and then with perfect comic timing...

"Is there another option?"

[Ridai]

Leeta considers whether Abanda and Super Dragon are distantly related.

[Comissar]

Vatia fights the urge to facepalm.

Cracking jokes? At a time like this? Although... Her eyes track over to the Turian, 'Super Dragon' can't really be his name, right?

Taking a step forward so that she was level with Yomim, she spoke up, "Ah, what my colleague was meaning to say was that we are the crew of the Sparrow. My name is Vatia Alesis, it is a pleasure to meet you."

She bows her head in return, hoping that things stayed smooth.

I would say Diplomacy roll, but there's not really one that looks like an equivalent in the system? I'll roll anyway, but I don't know which modifier to use for said roll.

[roll0]

[Hazuki]

Abanda snickers.

"Should there be?" Super Dragon asks Yomim earnestly, although his attention is swiftly taken up by Vatia stepping forward and introducing them. "A pleasure to meet you, as well! I'm sure this is a mite confusing, so I hope I can clear things up for you fine folk. You see, we were keeping an eye on the Relay through the comm buoys - we're expecting a delivery quite soon - and happened to notice you passing through. Obviously, you're not one of the ships we've traded with before, so we thought we'd 'touch base'," Air quotes. "And learn a little more about each other. Face to face."

[Ridai]

"Or helmet to helmet. Hello Mr. Super Dragon, I'm Leeta, nice to meet you," the asari bubbles, even saying the name unironically and giving a little wave. "Do you folks do that kind of entrance often? That looked pretty good, did you practice it or does that just happen like" Instead of finding the right word, Leeta snips her fingers and combos the motion into a finger pistol, which may or may not be a process conveying the intricacies of the concept of swagger among cool people with nicknames. It seems strangely appropiate in this situation to Leeta.

May as well try things. Trying to Create An Advantage in the form of a scene aspect called Those Kids Are Alright. Honestly, it would be just as fun if the roll totally tanks.
Flashy (+2) [roll0]
(Remember, just look at the final result of the roll)

edit: And Leeta just rolled 4 pluses. I wonder if the dice roller is a cool person with a nickname as well.

[Hazuki]

"That was Tosh's idea, actually!" Super Dragon answers, a lilting tune to his voice. "She thought it would lend us an air of authority, and, I have to admit, it's quite satisfying. Rather like military drills, I suppose, but with less death." He pauses. "Well, hopefully!" He chuckles. "Are you the leader of this group...?"

[Ridai]

"Oh, no no, I'm just helping out here or there. Mr. Osheer did me a kindness and let me fly the shuttle, is all." Leeta respectfully gestures towards Yomim, with barely a downward component to the motions.

[Implodio]

"I suppose that's technically me." Yomim's voice cuts back in after the explanatory banter suggests this is not an enemy kill squad but, in fact, a bunch of dorks. "But we represent investors who hope to see many of these Tides colonies prosper. Could you maybe tell us what's going on around here, and how we might be able to help?"

[Comissar]

Vatia sighs inwardly, glad of the lack of tension. Content to leave the others to introduce themselves, she stood in a relaxed posture, letting her arms just hang at her sides. Paying only half attention to 'Super Dragon', she scanned her eyes over his cohort. Were they really so concerned about pirates? It seemed like they hadn't been expecting anyone to come through the relay, so perhaps it wasn't too surprising they were wary, but still...

[Hazuki]

"I cannot share what I do not know." Super Dragon intones. "That is to say, there's not a great deal going on! Which is better than something bad, don't you think? Angel Valley is prospering, as ever, and we've recently secured a deal for further trading between ourselves and certain independent companies." He taps a finger on the chin of his helmet. "You're more than welcome to visit, if you'd like! I'm sure our people can whip up something for your people to eat - I even have some stocks suitable for my fellow levo-challenged individuals."

[Comissar]

Vatia turns her attention back to the other Turian, nodding her assent, "That's appreciated. I'm sure we'll drop by soon enough, even if just to resupply."

[Implodio]

"Wonderful!" He clips his pincers together in approximation of a clap. "We cannot wait. And why should we? What a profitable meeting. Well, we shall return ato our vessel and shortly stop in with your people. Fare well, Dragon-Clan!" Under cover of enthusiastic assent, Yomim attempts to truncate the meeting.

[Hazuki]

"Farewell!" Super Dragon waves to the group as they walk away.

[Ridai]

Leeta waves back and walks to the shuttle with the others, happy with the outcome and looking forward to an easier return flight.

[Comissar]

Vatia nodded again, turning to head back to the waiting shuttle. Inside her helmet, her mandibles twitched. She still felt uncomfortable with all of this, though she was slowly coming to the conclusion that it was just paranoia. Or... She hoped it was paranoia. She glanced across to Leeta. At least the Asari had a spring in her step.

[Implodio]

A kind of heavy silence descended over them when they slid back into the shuttle, closed the door, and listened to the spooling drive.


Yomim crossed his arms (as far across his body as they would go, anyway) and finally vocalized...

"I don't like it. Why have they scrubbed the marks off their armor? A kind of rudimentary uniform for their militia? And who have they been trading with? These colonies are supposed to be orphaned. Someone is cutting my lunch, and I don't like it." The rest of that sentiment, "but at least they seem to be happy, and serving the colony" remains unspoken. No need to mush that sentiment around. "Best we find out soon. Soon soon, before they can scrub the markings of anything else important."

[Hazuki]

"I don't think they're a danger, boss." Abanda comments, as she climbs into the co-pilot's seat of the shuttle. "I mean, the guy calls himself Super Dragon. What kind of name is that?" She laughs amusedly. "...or is it a Turian thing? Erm, if it is, that's cool, too." She adds, hastily.

[Ridai]

"For now, just take one step at a time and think positive thoughts," Leeta adds serenely once everyone is inside and situated, drive powering up. "Seriously, I'm taking off, think happy thoughts." And immediately, the shuttle surges up and forward, smoothly zooming back to the ship.

[Comissar]

Vatia frowns inside her helmet, shaking her head at Abanda's comment. "No, it's not. If you don't mind my saying so sir," She glances briefly at Yomim, "The whole thing feels wrong to me. There were a lot of them, they were heavily armed, insisted on meeting in person, and then said nothing of consequence?" She shook her head again, "I don't like it, and I think we should watch our backs."

[Implodio]

Yomim tapped his exosuit's mouthpiece in pensive thought, and sighed.

It was suspicious - but if they wanted to attack, they certainly had missed the best chance they'd ever have back there. What was their deal? And what of this "Super Dragon"? Too many unanswered questions. All they could do was look for answers to fit them.

Atleast his tertiary objective had come off alright. Leeta, who had been flitting around with unchanneled eagerness, had found a niche. It seemed obvious enough to Yomim; her best friend was the pilot. She would now certainly confide in him about piloting things, and soak up his wisdom. When they had to fly somewhere again, he'd pick her to fly them once again.

The Asari learned a useful skill she could take pride in; the pilot gained someone who understood his anecdotes about yaw crimping and retrovectors; and Yomim gained an on-call shuttle pilot who was not a grinning hotshot idiot who would get them all killed, but an eager and polite young woman who was grateful for the opportunity. Win, win, win. Everyone wins. The capitalist fractal, glinting in slow revolutions in theoretical space.

"The Biz-Clan." He piped up, blinking shutters at Abanda. "You've seen your share of combat armor. The color markings were burred down, but.. I don't suppose you could determine a supplier off what you saw, on our friends back there?"

[Hazuki]

"No can do, jefe." Abanda replies, not taking her eyes off of the controls as Leeta guides them back to the Sparrow. "That's Octarine's field. But she'd need to see it herself to get any kind of idea of where they're from."" She lets that thought hang in the air for a few moments. "Oh wait! Luckily for us, I recorded the whole thing."

[Ridai]

"Nice going!" Leeta compliments, adding a friendly slap on Abanda's shoulder (and by now she can even do so without making the shuttle sway or dip in some way; inexperienced as she may be, she is a fast learner). "Now I even get to be part of an investigation," she nigh-squeaks in excitement, ready to do all she can to make the whole affair a success.

[Comissar]

Vatia shook her head in amusement at Leeta's reaction, "Quick thinking to do that, well done. We can try cross-referencing shipping lanes once we know where they got their gear from, see if they may have stolen it or not."

[Implodio]

"Myes. Myes."

He is listening, myes he is; but his better concentration is turned inward. But Yomim Osheer has been himself for a long time, and he knows when he is chasing his mental tail. Only effort, and not speculation, will make this more clear.

"... They just... They seemed like a bunch of dorks, didn't they? Dorks with guns. Strange."

[Ridai]

"A lot of people have a fascination with everything that goes pew, boom or brzzt," Leeta helpfully points out, with prime evidence sitting beside her. "But that doesn't exclude being good at something, I think. Could also be that they are the ones working the counter, so to speak, while someone in their back office handles the logistics, planning and whatnot."

[Hazuki]

"It sounds like y'all'd be happier if they had started shooting us." Abanda comments, with an obviously amused tone.

[Ridai]

"Oh, I'm a big wuss, I like it when bullets stay in the magazine."

[Comissar]

"Heh." Vatia chuckled and shook her head at Abanda, "It'd be more familiar at least. You know where you are when you're under fire." She relaxes a little, removing her helmet with a soft hiss as her armour's air pressure equalised to that of the cabin, "With an investigation it's all hunting, and searching, and hoping you're on the right tracks."

[Implodio]

"If they'd shot us, we would have been perforated and it would have made sense. What happened has just meant that when we meet their mysterious backers, we'll have to do this all again. And when they start shooting us, we'll know we've penetrated the outer layer of dorks and have arrived at the heart of the question. Probably. Or else everything will be fine, I don't know. The point is - good work, the three of you. I have great hopes for this little species-diverse, skills-diverse problem solving team. And if anyone knows a Quarian biotic to round us out, let me know."

[Hazuki]

The shuttle soon makes its way back to the Sparrow, and Leeta manages to land it firmly inside without smashing into anything. Abanda is the last out, where she immediately removes her helmet and shakes her hair.

"Do you want me to deliver this right to Octarine?" She asks, tapping her helmet.

[Ridai]

Leeta cheers and high-fives Abanda upon the successful landing. Before getting out of the shuttle, she slips back into her usual clothes and just gives the human a hug as thanks for all her help (out of sight of everyone else, to keep Abanda's badass ratio intact).

"That was great!" the asari summarizes the whole experience, smiling like the sun.

[Implodio]

"Do you want me to deliver this right to Octarine?" She asks, tapping her helmet.

"If you please, Biz-clan. And slide a copy to my Omni-tool so I can obsess over it in my own time."

Having exhausted his well of congratulations for the group, he toddled down the ramp from the shuttle and began the restless circuit of a man who anticipates trouble.

[Comissar]

Vatia simply nods in response to Yomim's congratulations. She couldn't help but be amused at Leeta's enthusiasm once she'd brought the shuttle back in to land, "You did well," A hint of humour enters her voice, "Maybe ease up on the throttle when you come in to land next time, not all of us have biotics to shield against a crash."

[Ridai]

"You did well," A hint of humour enters her voice, "Maybe ease up on the throttle when you come in to land next time, not all of us have biotics to shield against a crash."
Leeta grins, stands up straight and salutes. "Yes, ma'am, will do a less dynamic entrance next time, ma'am!" Uplifted by all the great things that have been going on, the nomad looks around... and realizes something. "Well, time to find something to do."

[Hazuki]

Abanda returns the hug that Leeta gives, although it's a little more awkward than one would expect, even considering the plates of armor between them.

~

"I'll have to cut it out of the rest of the footage, but no problem." Abanda replies to Yomim, as she packs most of her weaponry away in the armory and then disappears up the stairs. Those still standing in the shuttle bay are left to enjoy the sight of some of the ship's engineers coming out to check on the shuttle's state.

[Ridai]

Feeling a little lost again, Leeta looks to the others. "Well... let me know if you need something. Always there to help." Returning the borrowed equipment, Leeta heads towards the engine room and the surrounding area, in hopes of finding something to do. With a little detour to grab one of those small snack bars on the way.

...As soon as the door closes behind her, it opens again, with the asari heading straight into the shuttle and emerging right after with the briefcase, keeping her head down as she quickly makes her way to the bridge.

[Hazuki]

Leeta is the last person out of the shuttle bay, leaving her to trail behind her fellow crew as they go their separate ways. With the immediate peril apparently diminished, it sounds like most people are returning to their regular roles of relaxing or completing basic maintenance, and she can just about make out the hum of the MED.

When she emerges from the stairwell to the crew deck, her path is suddenly blocked by a pale Asari wrapped up in a green hoodie.

"Hello." Ralli peers up at her. "We haven't been introduced properly, so allow me; I am Doctor Ralli Melis. A pleasure." She pauses, giving Leeta but a moment before she speaks again. "What's in the box?"

~

Yomim soon gets a message on his omni-tool, with a video file of their meeting with Super Dragon and his crew. His stroll is only interrupted by the sight of Captain Hrux speaking with Vatia, should he wish to investigate.

~

The atmosphere at the commander center seems to have calmed down since Vatia was last there, with more people returning to their beverages and Captain Hrux casually reviewing some footage of their landing. When the Turian walks up, he turns to her with a toothy smile.

"Vatia! Good work out there, glad to see you made it back." He greets, as the footage shifts forward. "So, what did you think?" The holographic display settles on a zoomed-in picture of Super Dragon, clearly taken from Abanda's footage. "Is he your type?"

[Ridai]

Suddenly face to face with someone, and another doctor to boot, Leeta freezes up where she stands, Dr. Melis' way of speaking doing nothing to change the situation. The younger asari needs a moment to realize the pause and overcome her vocal paralysis, only for the doctor to speak again and Leeta strangling a syllable into a quiet squeak. Finally: "Innoculants. For the colonists. XO sent me to get them," she staccatos, followed by a hasty. "Leeta Dasai. Nice- nice to meet you." Underlined by the friendliest tortured smile, as fleeting as her composure in this moment, mentally already mapping out a myriad of frantic escape routes.

[Comissar]

Walking over to the Captain, Vatia takes a moment to give the image a good look. She turns her head to look at the Krogan, "Tough to say," She raises an eyebrow, "The helmet hides his rogueish good looks. And without that, what can I go on but his name?"

"That said..." She leans against the wall, crossing her arms, "He did offer to take me to his place, even make dinner specially for me. Don't get me wrong, I was flattered," She looks back at the recording again, "but he did also say he was expecting someone else."

Vatia's mandibles twitched, and she frowned at that thought, "I'll be the first to admit I don't know this region too well," She looks back to the Captain, "Any idea who he might've mistaken us for?"

[Hazuki]

Ralli stares at Leeta, then looks over her shoulder, then looks back at Leeta with what would be a furrowed brow on a species with eyebrows. "Is there something wrong with my face?" She asks, slipping her hands into her hoodie.

~

Captain Hrux nods at Vatia's question. "Super Dragon here mentioned something about getting a delivery, which could mean they've got some kind of private trade going - most extranet corps won't leave their usual routes for the sake of a one-off deal." He explains, matter-of-factly. "One colony won't have grown enough in twenty years to provide bulk goods, so if they are trading, it has to be something special that the rich will throw credits at."

[Implodio]

Yomim strides (for a given value of stride) on to the bridge, commandeers one of the unused terminals, and interfaces swiftly by his Omnitool. Browsing threads and worm protocols sprout to life - the tools of a datagrabber, more than a hacker or technician. He tosses up the visual data from Abanda's delivered footage, and gets digging.

The armor model. The name "Super Dragon". Trace records of one-off deals with the orphaned Tides of Folly colonies. Anything useful, to clarify their situation before they flew into it.

And, for good measure, he opened an audiochannel to Octarine, expecting Abanda to be delivering the footage simultaneously.

"Octarine - are you looking at interesting pictures right now? Any... preliminary thoughts?"

It's time to Cleverly attempt to Overcome the shroud of mystery around Super Dragon and the Dragonettes.

[roll0] [roll1] [roll2] [roll3] ... (Summary after the roll, and edit).

EDIT: Looks like 1 + Clever (Good, 3) for a total of 4. I'm doing it right, right? Right.

[Ridai]

Leeta feels the onset of internal screaming, body rapidly heating up and growing more tense. "No! No, not at all! You have a very nice face!" she tries to recover, the blue of her face deepening by several shades. "Sorry- I'm sorry, I'm just- don't know how things work- was at the infirmary and-" Given that she has successfully made a complete and utter fool out of herself and potentially insulted Ralli, panic gets replaced by that sinking feeling making her shoulders droop, head hang, and Leeta as a whole appear very small. "I'm horrible..."

[Hazuki]

"A veritable menagerie of them, in fact." Octarine replies almost immediately to Yomim, although she sounds a little husky at the moment. "Super Dragon didn't acquire his armor from the same distributor as those under his employ - the ridging, the structure, the material - all points to that. The details aren't available for perusal yet, but I ECRS when I see it, and I see it on Super Dragon. Some time may pass before we're able to identify the precise models, the scrubbing made certain of that, but it's useful regardless."

"As we wait on the armor, I can inform you that their weaponry isn't universal. Some of it seems jury-rigged. This could be because they offered everyone the chance of choosing their own weaponry, as I did for Fairlight's armor customizations, but that's unlikely. A much more credible supposition is that they purchased pre-owned guns at the cheapest they could afford, or else purchased parts and a talented gunsmith cobbled them together. I could identify further, but I feel my time is better spent on identifying the armor."

The first results that pop up on Yomim's omni-tool are for the name Super Dragon, which has a long and not necessarily interesting history. It almost certainly originates from Earth - even though similar concepts exist in many mythologies, the progression of Earth's culture lead to a great deal of overcompensation and exaggeration. This leads to a long history of people giving themselves names, especially on digital platforms and stage performances, that might be considered over the top. Names such as Darth Deathlord, Noscope_killbot_xxx58, and The Biz. As such, there's a great deal of white noise in Yomim's search, and the name definitely doesn't come up in any news.

I feel like we should give the results over the course of this little scene, rather than all right away.

~

Ralli stands there for a few moments, watching Leeta have a mini-breakdown of awkwardness, then clears her throat. "...so, you're from Thessia, aren't you?"

[Ridai]

Taking a deep breath, Leeta manages to return to a semblance of sanity. "Yeah. Did oddjobs for the family business until Maiden stage decided it was time to explore and after a lot of detours, here I am." In the face of a more normal situation (and thanking the goddess Ralli is patient with her), the younger asari's temperature slowly recedes to a more comfortable level, also managing an actual sweet smile this time around. "Nowhere near something amazing like a doctor's degree or following dreams of becoming a Huntress, I'm afraid, but lots of new things to see and do, so I can't complain."

[Comissar]

"Mmm..." Vatia hums in response, her frown remaining as she thinks, "Possibly some kind of under the table deal? If it was by the books I doubt they would've been as jumpy with us when we arrived."

She sighed, closing her eyes as she massaged her forehead with one hand. "Like you said, they're not going to be big enough to be buying in something big and valuable yet. So they're selling, maybe they found something?" She opened her eyes again, folding her arms in front of her, "Something big enough to draw in a big buyer, and something they can't do legitimately. Prothean maybe?"

She sighs again, shaking her head, "Perhaps I should just call him back, get him to tell me about it over dinner."

[Hazuki]

"Then you're nothing like the majority of maidens who seek doctorates." Ralli comments, as she leans on her back foot to look Leeta over. "They're always able to find something to complain about, as soon as they're in a position of authority." She takes a beat to breathe. "How did you stumble upon Fairlight? Family connections?"

~

"Could be Prothean, but unlikely." Captain Hrux folds his fingers into a pyramid. "It'd mean that the Hierarchy didn't spot them, Conatix couldn't find them, but an unsupported colony did. There are ways it could happen, but it's not likely - best to wait until we arrive, anyway."

[Ridai]

"To be fair, I don't think I am in a position of authority as the ship's oddjobs girl." Leeta gestures for Ralli to walk with her for a moment and maybe find a place to sit down, instead of chatting halfway on the stairs.

"Met Lars some time ago while I was travelling, talked a lot, shared stories, became friends. He asked me if I wanted to come aboard for this whole trip and that there was space for a jane of all trades, I said yes and... that's pretty much it. Only really learned about Fairlight a short time before take-off, so I'm trying to learn what I can and get to know the people here and how things work. Evidently with... varying success..." she concludes, unable to stop a sheepish chuckle from expressing the latent awkwardness that is still in the process of dissipating. "If I may ask, what does your day look like, on the ship or otherwise?" Leeta asks with genuine interest. It's one of her favorite things, getting to know people from all walks of life and all sorts of different professions.

[Comissar]

Vatia nods, "Agreed. Speculation is just speculation, after all," She shrugs as she pushes herself off the wall, "And you make a valid point too, but lucky finds do happen."

Now standing more to attention, her voice takes on a more formal tone, "Anything else you need from me, sir?"

[Hazuki]

Ralli follows right beside Leeta, towards the ample sitting space available at the dinner/lunch/breakfast table. She seems to listen to Leeta's story, although without obvious curiosity, then shrugs when it comes to her. "I've got little to occupy my time until we arrive at the location, and only then, if we discover something interesting. This job is one of the most interesting ones by far, because there's the opportunity to put my skills to use - perhaps unsurprisingly, a scholar doesn't normally have a position in mercenary groups." She pauses. "So, to answer your question, most of my days are spent on post-graduation studies, honing my natural Biotics - can you believe our Councillor has never had self-defense training?" She grimaces. "And enlightening idiots on the extranet. That last one rarely works, but most of them will die before I do, so I win either way."

~

"Just make sure you warn me before you go chasing boys." Captain Hrux says, with a feigned stern voice. "But no, you're free until we get close to landing. Lars says that'll take a few hours yet."

[Ridai]

Leeta listens attentively and shows a lopsided grin at the last bit. "I've been trying to work on my biotics as well, but I doubt I'm much good in a fight yet. Better at getting out of or away from trouble than staying in it." There is little doubt that in terms of biotics, Ralli would completely destroy her. "What are you studying?"

[Comissar]

Vatia gives the Captain a salute, "I'll try my best, sir, but I may not have time to warn you." She lowers her arm, "I'll have my omni-tool set to ping me if you need me back sooner."

Offering the Krogan a final nod, she turned to head toward the mess hall. She still found the reduced formality of civilian ship life strange, if she were still on a Hierarchy vessel, she'd be expected to be at her station regardless of if there was an expected need for her. Not that the current way was unpleasant, just different. Her mandibles twitched with amusement at an errant thought.

Maybe that's why the alien's think we're all stiff and formal, they get more breaks than us.

[Hazuki]

"History." Ralli answers, as she takes a seat at the table. "With cultural history as my focus. It's one of the most frustrating fields of study one can possibly have, because every time we encounter a new race, they fill up the field with thousands of years of history and make it that much more difficult to master."

~

Vatia returns to the mess hall, where she spots a few members of the crew lingering about, along with one of the only Elcor crewmember's drones scanning a set of lockers, and Leeta speaking with Ralli, another Asari, at the table.

[Ridai]

"Humans added quite a bit to the workload, I take it? I've heard a bit here and there about their history, much of it pretty... turbulent," Leeta puts it more or less diplomatically. "Sometimes, I wonder if their pop culture is a religion to them."

[Hazuki]

"I feel like I could provide a layman's explanation of humanity's last couple of centuries in five words." Ralli spreads her hands out, as though she's pulling aside some curtains. "Humanity: Popular culture and coitus."

[Ridai]

A moment of silence. Then Leeta's facial muscles working overtime, along with a suppressed noise from her throat. Finally, the young asari's efforts fail and she bursts into hysterical laughter, interspersed by feeble attempts to stop herself that are doomed from the start, because she feels she shouldn't laugh as hard at this as she is (which only makes her laugh harder). After several moments, with even well worked-out muscles for laughter and smiling aching, Leeta tries to catch her breath among aftershocks of giggling. "I feel bad for saying it, but I might need to frame that."

Taking a deep breath, she finally collects herself again, though a healthy shade of color remains on her face. "Any hopes on what might be found?"

[Comissar]

Vatia takes a seat at the table, offering a friendly nod to anyone who happens to look her way. Her mandibles twitch as she notices Leeta already here, and talking to another Asari no less. Her expression turns to a frown as she spots the drone scanning lockers.

I wonder what Vejet's looking for...

She watches the drone's progress for a few seconds before a sudden outburst of laughter captures her attention. She finds herself treated to a display of Leeta trapped in a fit of laughter. Unable to help herself, Vatia soon finds she's chuckling to herself alongside the Asari's outpouring of good humour. She shakes her head, lowering her gaze to her Omni-tool.

She'd be terrible at Poker... Maybe I should challenge her some time...

Fingers dancing over the interface, Vatia brings up the extranet news. She never had a chance to check it this morning, and it never hurt to be up to date on current affairs. It also served as a handy pretext for not paying anyone any attention, allowing her to surreptitiously keep an eye on the Drone, too.

[Implodio]

Yomim scrolls through pages and pages and pages of armor models and "Super Dragons". Success was limited, and slow coming; and he swiveled his lenses around the deck as if to load up on relatively entertaining distraction before burrowing back into the work. Some crew averted their eyes, their stares discovered, and this wasn't unexpected: most didn't ever see him work. Both because he typically did his work in private, and also because he did not do much work that looked like work. To most people, the kind of work that produces billions of credits and changes colonies from pre-feb museums of outdated gear into actual, useful, self sufficient trade posts, well... To most people, it looked like needless faffing about and high minded frippery.

But that's just what it looked like; and the visual of the short, theoretically self important volus plugging away at his omnitool near one of the terminals was peculiar; like a cat that uses, and flushes a human toilet.

Yomim, however, was used to the looks. They meant well. And they'd understand better when they'd lifted up a colony or two; and the satisfaction of doing that good was enough for him.

Satisfaction, and billions, and billions of credits.

[Hazuki]

Ralli tilts her head and observes Leeta's giggling fit, but doesn't join in. "Once we arrive at the colony? None in particular. Something useful on how human colonies grow when completely unattended, how they've worked with the animal life...basic stuff. Unless there happens to be remnants of some former inhabitants, but that's doubtful, and most likely Prothean in either case."

~

Vatia finds that nobody is having a particularly exciting day, aside from those people featured in accidents and incidents of varying degrees, but reading those tends to be an exercise in despair.

An independent Asari seamstress by the name of Oosa Ling has charged to the front lines, having been contracted by Elanus Risk Control Services to help design their latest personal armor line. Dubbed "Scout", it focuses on providing exquisitely designed armor that can be worn to parties and other social gatherings without raising alarm, for those operating on the frontier of space, or just the ones who take their safety seriously.

In political news, a small Krogan sect known as "Trameer Collective" have stepped up their game in regards to securing aid from other non-Council races for the ravaged Tuchanka. It's known that they've attempted to contact Hanar and Batarians in the past, but their most recent attempts seem to be focused on Humanity - which has led to pushback from human rights group "Terra Firma".

And making the rounds in Turian circles is the news that records of the Unificiation War have been discovered deep in an old military bunker on Palaven. Although the details haven't been shared with the public, apparently the area around the bunker once served as a meeting place for the then-Primarch and her most trusted deputies.

Vejet's drone doesn't seem to linger for long, soon folding up its wing-shaped stabilizers to hover towards the sleeping pods.

~

Octarine seems fine with the silence that follows Yomim ignoring her research, and Yomim's own searches prove fairly fruitless when it comes to finding records of one-off deals with the Tides of Folly system. He does, however, manage to locate a private digital auction for an "Hand-Woven Cloak of Authentic Mytal Wool" through a few Asari contacts. He doesn't currently have access to the auction itself, and the details within, but apparently it's being sold for tens of thousands of credits.

[Comissar]

Vatia skims through a few of the articles on recent tragedies, checking for patterns out of force of habit. When the depressing nature of them becomes too much, she switches to more light hearted fare. The news about Elanus raises an eyebrow. She shakes her head and mutters "Silk armour for silk daggers..."

She gives the Krogan news a cursory look, before moving on to the talk about the Unification records. Another raised eyebrow, and a bookmark to read more about that later.

Could be interesting.

Dismissing her Omni-tool, she tapped her fingers on the table a couple of times. A frown reappeared on her face as she debated what to do. She tilts her head as she watches Vejet's drone leave. Standing from the table, she takes a circuitous route out of the room toward the sleeping pods, passing the lockers as she did so. She took a quick glance at the number on the locker the drone was scanning, making a mental note to double check whose it was after she'd caught up with Vejet.

[Ridai]

"Ah. I hope you'll find something interesting there," Leeta wishes Ralli with the best of intentions. "If you'd... like to tell somebody about your discoveries and research, I'd be happy to listen. I mean, if you feel like it and don't mind a few questions, that is..." There is the briefest pause, the young asari glancing about.

"Well, I should probably find some way to make myself useful while I look after the case. Let me know if you want me to help with something. I mean, not professionally!" she hastily clarifies, not wanting to imply she can do what Ralli can do. "Oddjobs and the like. I'd be happy to help." And more quietly, she shyly adds "And... thanks for your patience."

[Hazuki]

Vatia remembers noticing that the drone seemed to be scanning a large portion of the lockers, the B section of them, rather than any one locker. When she enters the room filled with sleeping pods, many of them occupied, she gets to watch as the drone starts to scan along every pod.

~

"Certainly." Ralli nods. "Try not to get into trouble."

[Comissar]

Vatia frowns at the odd sight. She'd been expecting the Drone to be returning to Vejet, but apparently not yet? She made a point of not staring at the Drone, instead taking a full sweep of the room as though she were looking for someone. Best to get an idea of who was around first.

[Hazuki]

Vatia can't spot anybody awake in the pod bay. Everyone seems to be quite content sleeping in their sleeping pods, something which quite prevents her from seeing exactly who is where.

[Comissar]

Content that she was alone amongst the conscious, Vatia turned her Omni-tool on then leaned against a wall, arms crossed. A frown furrowed her brow as she watched the drone's behaviour. Why would an engineer be so interested in people and their belongings? He could just be double checking the systems were all in order, but then why only scan the B section?

She sighed softly to herself. Of course, she could just be overthinking it entirely. It was the Elcor's job to monitor for defective equipment after all.

Vatia's brought her omni-tool up so that she can pretend to be reading it if anyone happens to walk by, that's all :smalltongue:

[Hazuki]

The rest of the journey goes smoothly enough, with no more sudden hails, hallway conversation ambushes, or drones snooping about where they shouldn't be. By the time the Sparrow reaches Mytal, most of the current shift of crew are fully awake and at their stations for making sure the landing goes smoothly. Lars, with the vital aid of his co-pilot and the sensor cronies, manages to find a landing spot not too far away from what they assume is the colony of Angel Valley. Those paying attention will be aware of the fact that there seems to be another spot that bears the telltale signs of a similarly-sized ship landing, but Captain Hrux makes the decision to find the alternate.

After what could generously be described as "chasing" her lead, Vatia manages to find out that Vejet noticed somebody trying to get into the lockers earlier. It didn't take long for him to figure out that it was Carim'rin, the Quarian on her pilgrimage that has been allowed on board, and notified Captain Hrux about it. Turns out, it was simply a matter of cultural differences, and Captain Hrux was able to explain to her that, yes, the custom of private property does extend even to the ship she's serving on.

As soon as they land, a party of four is organized to depart and meet with the locals. Yomim, of course, and his hand-picked immuno-whatchamacallits carrier, Leeta, along with Abanda for protection. And, as her orders from the Hierarchy dictate that she should be involved with all interaction with the locals, Vatia gets to go along as well. Should all go smoothly, some of the other crew may join them until Captain Hrux and Yomim make plans for the rest of the colonization efforts.

When they step out onto Mytal, they're greeted by a myriad of unusual sensations. The first is the distinctive tangy taste to the air, that reaches to the back of the throat, and a lightness to their feet that's just a few hairs above the intragalactic standard. The second is the sight - they've landed in a mountainous valley, that much is certain, which stretches out before them in an almost serpentine shape, obscured only further by the clusters of black, vine-like plants that stretch down and partially across the walls of the valley. The tightly-packed earth beneath their feet is left almost bare, save for dead clusters of those vines, and a peculiar kind of grass that dots the ground in blob-like clusters of silvery pins.

Illuminating the valley is the pale red sun, Lax Morality, whose light they can just make out through the peaks of the valley.

[Ridai]

"Plplpfftbuach," Leeta muses reflexively after taking the first deep breath. Shaking and clearing her head, she takes more of a look around. "Wow!" she exclaims her second opinion excitedly. "this looks depressing." With a big grin the asari looks to the others. "I wonder what else there is here."

As she waits for directions from their fearless leader, Leeta checks out one of the grass blobs with Abanda, by way of foot poking.

[Comissar]

Vatia hums to herself as the ship approaches the planet. As was often the case, there'd been no sinister plot involving Vejet, but at least it had given her something to do for a little while. As they make their final approach, she heads back to the shuttle bay to gear up. She gives the others a friendly nod in greeting while she does so.

Stepping out onto the planet surface, she's struck by the texture of the air. Mandibles twitching as she adjusted to her first few breaths, she looked up at the sky. After being inside a metal can in space for the past who knows how long, it was nice to feel the freedom of an open sky. She raises an eyebrow at Leeta's proclamation, "Heh, I'm sure we can find something that'll brighten it up for you. A nice beach, perhaps."

[Ridai]

"Ooh! If the water doesn't eat my flesh or hide things that want to eat my everything or kill me otherwise, I'd be up for a swim! Didn't exactly pack for such an occasion, but that ain't stopping me."

[Hazuki]

Abanda steps out of the Sparrow beside Yomim, as some of the crew gather at the top of the stairs to steal a look at Mytal. The armored woman takes a long look at their surroundings, a widening smile on her lips, as Yomim waddles forward with an imperceptible expression. Because he's completely covered in an airtight container.

"Please refrain from disrobing until we've delivered the immuno-suppressants, Thessia-clan." The Volus requests of Leeta, as he too takes a moment to gaze at their new surroundings.

[Ridai]

"I'll try my best," Leeta chirps as she looks around. "Sooo... where to?"

[Hazuki]

"Onwards." Yomim points ahead in the valley, and starts to lead a plodding trail through. "With any luck, we'll be at Angel Valley within the hour."

"Mytal hour or GS hour, Sir?" Abanda speaks up, after a little jog to catch up with the group.

"The latter."

[Ridai]

"Onwards!" Leeta joins in, walking alongside the others, humming along the way, her case of medicine in hand.

[Comissar]

Vatia frowns at the Volus' directions, throwing a glance over her shoulder at the Sparrow. Turning forward again, she followed after the group, taking longer strides to quickly close the small gap. "Not that I'm adverse to a nice walk, but why not take the shuttle to the colony? It'd save us some time, and make the return trip faster too."

[Hazuki]

"Palaven-clan," Yomim takes a deep, filtered breath. "Would you enjoy the sight of a heavily armed spacecraft hurtling towards your home?"

[Comissar]

Vatia chuckles, "It wouldn't exactly be an unusual sight, but I take your point." As she walks, she rubs one of her shoulders, "Still, there's something to be said for the convenience of modern transportation. Might be worth shopping around for unarmed shuttles for colony visits in future."

[Hazuki]

"Hmm... Hmm..." The Volus mumbles to himself, clearly going through some very important thoughts in his head. "I'll consider the matter."

"Does anybody else really want to try climbing those things?" Abanda asks, nodding at the vines hanging down the sides of the valley.

[Ridai]

Leeta is already walking in the distance.

[Comissar]

Vatia gives Abanda a bemused look, splitting her attention between the human and the vines. "I can't say it was the first thing that came to mind when I saw them." She glances down at the ground beneath her feet, giving it a soft kick on her next step, "You probably wouldn't want to try, either. This ground looks a bit too dried out to allow the vines to support much weight," She turns her head up toward the valley cliff edges, "Especially when you're relying on a cliff edge for it."

[Ridai]

"Now this place is even more depressing," Leeta comments, hopes of free climbing dashed, even though she somehow would have had to bring the briefcase as well. Details.

"So what's the colony and its people like? Anyone know?"

[Hazuki]

"The colony has been separated from galactic communications since the corporations that first funded it fell." Yomim answers. "Unless there happens to be some kind of personal log stored on the extranet, there is no widespread word on what it's people will be like."

For the rest of the walk, Yomim seems quite content to check his omni-tool and enjoy a brisk walk through unusual countryside. Abanda, meanwhile, occupies herself with her armor-mounted camera and occasionally testing the lower gravity with skips and kicking a few scattered stones.

Eventually, they come across what seems to be a wooden wall established at the base of the valley, stretching from side to side, with a similar structure just barely peeking over the top of the valley, at a similar point. It's not a particularly large wall, about the size of two stacked Asari, but beyond it can be seen the familiar pre-fab structures that are widely sold to colonies and the military both. The gunmetal grey has obviously been weathered by years of use, but many of them have been spruced up with murals carved into them or else colorful lengths of fabric.

The first sign of life in the village is the sight of two heads peeking over the top of the wall, followed by the gate being pulled open to reveal more of the settlement beyond - where a few individuals can be seen carrying baskets or, in the case of the children, playing under the supervision of other entirely human adults. The first person to approach them is standing on the opposite side of the fence itself.

"Hello!" A dark-skinned woman greets the group, her arms thrown open as she strides towards the group, with a colorful cloak trailing behind her. She seems to be wearing a simple set of fatigues, much like colonies are often fitted with (Although these seem to be made of different materials), beneath the cloak. "This is Angel Valley, I'm the leader, and you're guests. Super Dragon told us you were coming!" As she finally stands in front of the group, she moves in front of everyone and plants a single kiss on their cheek.

[Ridai]

Leeta giggles and returns the gesture, smiling like the sun. "Hello, I'm Leeta. We wanted to say hi and," the asari lifts the briefcase. "we brought gifts! No cookies, but I think you'll like 'em anyway."

[Comissar]

Vatia contents herself with watching the scenery around them as they walk. It wasn't the most stunning planet she'd ever been on, but it also wasn't a barren wasteland. Her mandibles twitched in sympathy with the slightly tacky sensation in the back of her throat. It was a shame about the air, maybe she just needed a bit of time to get used to it though.

The settlement itself, once they arrived at it, seemed well lived in.

Makes sense, they've been cut off after all.

Vatia raised a hand in greeting as the human woman approached them. As she introduced herself, Vatia bowed her head in response, "A pleasure to meet you. I trust it was all good things?"

She blinks in surprise at the kiss. She'd been given to understand that it was primarily a sign of affection in humans. Not sure how to respond appropriately, she just gives an embarrassed cough and nods again.

[Hazuki]

The woman gently takes the case from Leeta's hands, examining it for a few moments as she considers Vatia's question. "Yes, I think so. Or we'd have shot you." She laughs softly, then lets the case of immuno-suppressants rest at her side. "You should come in! You must have a lot to say, if you've come all this way."

[Comissar]

"Heh. You have my thanks for not doing so."

Vatia nods at the human woman, "Getting inside sounds good, I think we have a lot to talk about."

[Ridai]

Leeta follows, happily continuing what Vatia said. "Like who came up with the snazzy capes. Do you all have capes? Are they only for the more important folks?"

[Hazuki]

The woman makes a sweeping gesture for the group to follow her, then starts striding into the colony proper. A couple of colonists close the gate behind them. "Of course we do! They're easy to make, and we hadn't had any contact with the greater galaxy for a while, until Super Dragon arrived. If you're staying for a while, we could lend you some." She glances at Yomim, but doesn't say anything after.

[Comissar]

Vatia follows the woman in, sparing a brief glance back at the gates when she hears them close. "Has he been here long? He certainly seems to have made quite an impression on you to hold him in such high regard."

[Hazuki]

"For a couple of years." The woman bobs her head in confirmation. "We weren't really expecting to see any other aliens for a long time - or at all! But then Super Dragon came and has been trying to help us ever since."

[Ridai]

"Maybe you'll get neighbors sometime in the future. We are out here to take a look at things - well, at least I am, since I pretty much just help out - and maybe we find a nice spot for another settlement or something."

[Comissar]

Vatia nods, "Nothing much has been heard from your colony for a while now, so we came to check up on you guys." She chuckles, "I have to admit, finding out that you'd already been working with Super Dragon was a surprise. I'm sure having his aid has been a boon for keeping supplies up. And speaking of him..." Vatia's tone turns mock conspiratorial as she theatrically glances over her shoulder, "I hope you don't mind my asking, but do you know why he calls himself Super Dragon? It's not exactly a traditionally Turian name."

[Hazuki]

"We called him that!" The woman grins at Vatia's question. "We have a small collection of digital media that we can access without the extranet, and much of it is fantasy. Not long after that company left, we started giving each other nicknames to keep our spirits up, based on those stories, and it's become a kind of tradition!" She laughs softly. "I suppose that seems silly, doesn't it?"

[Ridai]

"A little goofy at first glance, but knowing all that, I think it's rather charming," Leeta voices her opinion, evidently quite genuine about it. "I can hardly imagine what being completely cut off feels like. Hopefully we can re-establish a connection at some point, too. I don't have any pull, but I can at least try and poke people."

[Comissar]

Vatia shrugs, "It makes a certain kind of sense. I imagine he wears it as a badge of pride, especially if he's been with you for several years already." She looks over to Leeta and nods, "And as my colleague says, we'd be more than happy to help get you back in touch with the wider galaxy."

[Hazuki]

"That would be kind of you!" The woman agrees. "Oh, and you can call me Nympha. Sorry, in all the excitement, I seem to have forgotten my own introduction!" She laughs. "Super Dragon mentioned that there may be somebody with you who would be able to help with our...problems?"

[Ridai]

"That would probably be Mr. Osheer," Leeta explains, motioning to the unusually quiet volus. "If I can, I'd like to help out as well, but I have a distinct lack of corporate connections and money, for better or worse."

[Comissar]

Vatia inclines her head toward Nympha, "I think I may have forgotten to introduce myself as well. Vatia Alesis, at your service."

She nods as Leeta turns to Yomim, "We should be able to, yes. We came out here to do what we could, so unless your problems are much larger than anticipated, there shouldn't be an issue."

[Hazuki]

"Mr. Osheer, is it?" Nympha turns around and walks backwards so she can watch the Volus' reaction. He gives a carefully considered nod. "I'm not sure how much you'll be able to help, but you're welcome regardless. Ah, but let's worry about it later - surely you're hungry?" She asks, as they arrive outside one of the prefab buildings, from which a smokey smell emerges.

[Ridai]

Leeta's stomach answers for her as she sniffs the smells of the building. She chuckles after a small pause. "I guess that's a yes. What's cooking?"

[Comissar]

Vatia tilts her head, looking beyond Nympha to the building issuing smoke. Her mandibles twitched at the thought of a meal. "Sounds nice," She shifts her attention back to the human woman, "Got much of a selection for Turians?"

[Hazuki]

"We've got some quilled rats - I don't know if that's the proper word, but not many scientists have come around to tell us otherwise." Nympha explains, laughing softly to herself as she leads the group into the building proper. The floor has been covered in some kind of cloth, while the walls are decorated similarly to the outside of the building. The furniture, a mixture of basic colony furniture and wood, has images carved into it. Some are better than others.

At Vatia's question, she puts a finger to her lips, then shakes her head. "Super Dragon mentioned that he can't eat our food, or get sick. Something about acid?"

[Ridai]

"Aww" Leeta solidarily voices for Vatia. "maybe I can fix you something back on the ship?" she offers to the turian, before turning to Nympha. "I would like to try some, never had anything like that. Maybe just a little snack, don't want to leave Vatia out too much."

[Comissar]

Vatia chuckles softly and nods at Nympha, "Something like that, yes."

She raises an eyebrow at Leeta, "That'd be kind of you, sounds good. Don't worry about me for now, though, eat as much as you want." Her mandibles twitch with amusement, "I don't think I'll waste away just yet."

[Hazuki]

"Most noble of you." Nympha flashes a grin at Vatia, then gestures to the table at the center of the room, as well as the tables that surround it. "Please take a seat while I see how dinner is coming along." The woman offers, excusing herself through a familiar sliding door. Abanda looks about the prefab room and then at her guns.

"D'you guys think I'm overdressed?"

[Comissar]

Vatia shrugs as she eases herself into a chair, "Better safe than sorry, though if we get invited over again we may need to take our cue from the host's dress code." A teasing tone enters her voice, "Though if it's bothering you that much, you could always ask if you could borrow some clothes to change into."

[Ridai]

Leeta nods. "Yeah, don't worry! No one's thinking less of you, infact I think your action heroine look works well here. Introducing yourself as The Biz would work wonders here," she says happily with the best of intentions.

[Hazuki]

Abanda chuckles and takes a seat, as Yomim pulls himself onto a seat near the head of the table. "If you guys say it's fine, it's fine. Can't be any more surprising than any of you, anyway."

[Ridai]

"Besides, I like when people can be like they want to be." Leeta looks utterly serene, quietly tapping an upbeat little rhythm with her foot. "How do you find being part of Fairlight, and being a mercenary in general?" she asks Abanda curiously.

[Comissar]

Vatia raises an eyebrow at Abanda's comment, her mandibles twitching in amusement. "Oh? I can't say I was trying to surprise you." She tilts her head toward Leeta, "Unless you're talking about Leeta of course, then we're absolutely on the same page."

[Ridai]

"Aww, thank you!" Leeta beams, a little blush creeping onto her face like she received a very flattering compliment.

[Hazuki]

"It's great! You get your own armor, a bunch of cool guns, sleep and eat with a bunch of interesting people - I mean, you never meet a mercenary that doesn't have a story behind 'em - and, uh, I mean that you can sleep in the same bunk areas." Abanda clarifies. "And, yeah. It's just like home, but fancy."

[Ridai]

Leeta gives a quizzical look at the clarification. "Do people frown upon-" she begins, only to stop herself, remembering the complicated relationship with sexuality humans have. "Oh, sorry, sorry, forget I said anything!" She tries to overplay the whole thing with a sheepish chuckle, then quickly changes subjects to save everyone more awkwardness, channelling her energy into a bit of gushing. "But that's great to hear! There are a lot of great people aboard, like you three, it's really heartening. When Lars invited me along, I admit I was a little worried. But now I'm somewhere like I've never been before, having nice chats, and I even get to fly a shuttle! How great is that?!"

[Comissar]

Vatia chuckles at Leeta's boundless enthusiasm, "Give it a few weeks, we'll have you bored by the humdrum of it all yet. But seriously, it's good to enjoy the work you do. I'm glad you feel it's working out."

[Ridai]

Leeta laughs. "Then I'd also have discovered a new kind of boredom. But I don't know how I could get bored, I barely scratched the surface of what there is to do and see and learn aboard the ship, let alone out here. I feel like a really lucky girl. What do you folks look forward to out here?"

[Hazuki]

"Uhh," Abanda scratches her head as she considers the question. "I like seeing the good sights and being with the rest of the crew. It doesn't really matter where we go, as long as it's not complete crap." She pauses. "And hey, I get to play with all these fiiiine weapons." She pats the rifle strapped to her. "So much more badass than a Murder Knife."

Yomim adjusts his seat at the table, and clears his throat of any debris, but doesn't contribute to the discussion.

[Comissar]

Vatia chuckles at Abanda's enthusiasm about her weaponry, "For me it's just another job, I'll be honest. But it beats working in some office by a wide margin." She tilts her head toward the conspicuously quiet Yomim, "How about yourself? What made you want to get involved in the trade... Trade..."

She frowns at her phraseology.

[Ramsus]

Arriving at the edge of the town, Kanri'Umoth vas Nedas stops gently swinging back and forth the boxes she's been carrying and calls out fairly loudly, "Hey, we brought the stuff! Where you guys at?" At this point her arms being a bit more sore than she'd like and thus just wanted to set them down or hand them off as soon as possible.

[Shimmer]

Sol'ari came to a light stop beside the taller Quarian woman, her helmeted head swiveling this way and that as she tries to take everything in at once. Leaving her dark blue visored face peering at pretty much anywhere, but where she probably should be looking as shifted the box she had tucked under one arm. Her other free hand rested lightly on her favorite accessory, the Heavy Flamer, leaning against her hip slung from a shoulder strap.

"Oooo I like their art! Nice coloration. I wonder where they got the dye for their clothes? Maybe I can purchase a cape and a quilt here...OOO! I wonder who did that mural?!" Sol'ari murmured, jabbering on as she eye'd their surroundings with much enthusiasm hardly paying her companion any mind.

[JohnTheSavage]

Lagging behind the two Quarians, Cylan lumbered up behind them once they stopped at the edge of town. He felt a little guilty about making his Quarian companions do all the heavy lifting, but his back was fully occupied with his trusty machine gun and there was no way he'd step foot onto a planet like this unarmed.

"I doubt they take credits here." He says to Sol'ari, in the same monotone as ever.

[Hazuki]

"Keep your boots on, Sol'ari." A familiar voice comes up from behind the trio and soon gives them a face to match. Chomper, as she's affectionately known, is one of the Asari members of Fairlight's security crew and bears a distinctive grape-hued hide. She's been in her Maiden stage for some time now, but hasn't given up the mercenary life yet. Her omin-tool is lit up as she walks into view of the trio, blocking their view of the townsfolk disturbed by Kanri's yelling.

"Manos must have forgotten to add you to the 'out' team network." Chomper says, sliding a finger across the holographic display. Kanri and Sol'ari's omni-tools let out a little beep, while Cylan's HUD does the same, informing them of the memo for the outgoing trip. "There. You have to drop off the food, at least one of you join them, and I'll escort Osheer back to the Sparrow. Simple as anything." She turns slightly on her heel to look Cylan in the eyes. "You won't be entering Angel Valley with that on your back. You can scout the other end of the valley with one of these girls, or return to the Sparrow." She informs him, as plainly as she might any other soldier.

~

"Philanthropy." Yomim answers, with a slightly more jolly tone than his silence might have implied. "And, in the spirit of philanthropy, I have requested that some of your colleagues join you with a case of perfectly consumable food." The Volus takes in a deep breath. "And I will be joining the good Captain, to...discuss our future plans. I trust the both of you to leave a good impression on Angel Valley." He adds, with only a mildly warning tone.

The smell of food through a crack in the sliding door grows ever more enticing.

[Ramsus]

"I'll inquire about about those purchases for you while I'm there." Kanri says and just walks over to drop off the food, not giving the other two a chance to object to her selecting herself as the one who gets to sit down for a meal.

~

On her arrival at the designated building, Kanri knocks on the door just moments after Yomim's words.

[Shimmer]

Sol'ari seems torn, glancing between Cylan and the settlement before her practically radiating curiosity at the sight of the few humans peeking out at them. She'd never spoken with a real live human before, at least not about anything beyond standard C-sec questioning. Her brothers would probably kill her if they found out, but she'd just tune out whatever running lecture they had about "Humans are dangerous Sol'ari. Don't get hurt Sol'ari. You're too smal Sol'ari. You don't need to use a grenade to open a door Sol'ari Blahbity blah blah..." like usual.

On the other hand how often did one get the chance to scout an alien world with an Elcor warrior? She was certain at some point all this would become routine, but for the moment it was all bright and new and by the Primarchs of old it was FUN! Then of course before her decision could be made it was made for her. Not that she minded.

"Thanks Kanri! Anything in blue would be great or brightly colored! I'll see about paying you back!" She called, setting the crate down and lifted one three-fingered hand to wave enthusiastically at the other Quarian. Then turning to her companions she brightened, bouncing lightly on her toes.

"So scouting right?" She asked with a vaguely turian chirrup and a tilt of her head.

[JohnTheSavage]

Cylan returns Chomper's dead-in-the-eye look.

"It's only decorative."

Pause.

"...Scouting then." he says, and begins plodding away to check out the other end of the valley.

[Hazuki]

Chomper nods at the Elcor's decision and jogs to catch up with the fleeing Kanri. As they weave their way through the town, following the directions on Chomper's omni-tool, many eyes are upon them - including the guards that are watching them like it's their first opportunity to in a long time. But, nobody confronts them, and they soon arrive at the building from which savory scents can be sourced.

Yomim slips out of his chair as soon as the knock is heard. "My escort has arrived." He notes. "Please extend my apologies to Nympha." The Volus says, as he goes on his tiptoes to pull open the sliding door. The people already at the table are treated to the sight of him waddling out, Chomper standing just outside, and one of their Quarian colleagues prepared to march in with a thermo-case of warmed-up dextro food.

~

Cylan departs for his scouting with the heavy crunch of his footfalls against dead vines, followed by Sol'ari's much softer ones. It seems like it will be a long walk through the valley before they'll be able to spot anything but the high walls around them. A beep on their respective personal devices informs them that Roscius Dectus will be joining them shortly.

[Shimmer]

Sol'ari makes a note of the message, having to keep a light jog, taking multiple steps for every one of the Cylan's own. Glancing around the gears in her head began to turn as she eyed the high walls with interest. Noting their steep craggy slopes and higher advantage. More importantly however, she noted that one couldn't see over them from below making them easy ambush spots.

"You know. I think I can see why the Humans chose the spot they did. So long as their warriors beat any enemies to the top of the cliffs they could pretty much bottleneck anything trying to pass through before it got to the settlement. Of course if enemies got ahold of the cliffs instead it would make coming and going rather difficult." Sol'ari mused, occasionally weaving beneath the Elcor to duck up on his other side to check this or that vine or plant.

"I wonder how they've managed to survive here so long? I guess trade with that Turian that was mentioned, but still there's got to be some sort of wildlife or resources here for it to have been considered a viable colony." She murmured, giving a small rock a light kick as she slung her flamethrower into a more comfortable position for easy and quick access.

"What about you Cylan? What do you think of this place? Been to any like it before?" Sol'ari asked, ever curious.

[Ramsus]

Kanri gives a nod to Yomim as he passes and takes a step in the doorway and looks around to see who/what is there. Mainly to see who the authority figure is and if there are any potential threats... since ostensibly that is her job here. Or at least one job. The job that's more dignified sounding than delivery-quarian. And thus she says, "Delivery-Quarian, thirty minutes or less or it's still free." with a light chuckle at her own joke as she waits to see who comes to take it or where they want her to place it. Man her arms are sore.

[Comissar]

Vatia inclines her head toward Yomim, "You didn't need to, but thanks, I appreciate it." She raises an eyebrow at Leeta, "And I'll make sure we're both on our best behaviour."

She glances over her shoulder when the door is knocked a few moments later, and nods again. "Alright, have a safe trip back."

She stood from her chair, turning to face the new arrival. She chuckles at the Quarian's introduction, shaking her head as she did, "I don't know... I might ask for a refund yet if it's cold." Half-turning, she gestures toward the table, "I'd say just drop it there, our host isn't back yet but I don't think she'll mind."

Suggestion made, she returns to her seat. A faint frown forms on her face as she studies the Quarian, "I'm not sure we were ever properly introduced, I'm Vatia Alesis."

[Ramsus]

Kanri very quickly goes to put the boxes down where indicated with the thought that it's no longer her responsibility if that wasn't ok and chuckles a bit at the return jest. "I'm pretty sure names were exchanged at some point, but I did sort of show up last minute and have been busy. I'm Kanri'Umoth vas Nedas. Kanri is fine though. And don't feel bad, I don't remember any of your names either." she replies with a shrug, possibly a little unsure if she was actually introduced to every member of the crew or not.

She hastily adds, "Except yours. You just said it and I was absolutely paying attention and didn't forget already."

[Ridai]

"Have a safe trip!" Leeta calls after Yomim with a slightly nervous edge once the asari realizes she was brought here to do more than just make a delivery... and is not exactly sure how to handle questions about Fairlight.

"Hi!" she greets the arriving quarian, waving her over to sit down at the table. "I'm Leeta, nice to meet you! Looks like we'll have a lively dinner table." One of the rare joys this trip made possible.

[Hazuki]

Abanda also stands when Kanri arrives in the room, then slides back into her seat when the box of food is put down. "I'm The Biz." She greets the Quarian with a winning smile, then starts to open the container of dextro-food with practiced...not ease, but at least she seems to know how to do it. It soon pops open to reveal two metal dishes, each filled with some of Pills' familiar cooking. And, thanks to the wonders of technology, they're still steaming slightly. It looks like what might have been left over from breakfast. And sitting between the meals are two thermos flasks, marked with a clear D on their caps.

Through the sliding door, the sound of cutlery being picked up and placed can be heard.

[Ridai]

"I'll be right back," Leeta says, then walks to the kitchen, carefully peeking her head in. "Hey, can I help with setting the table?" she offers.

[Hazuki]

When Leeta peers into the kitchen, she notices that it shares the same design as the rest of the town. Metal draped in colorfully dyed fabrics, with some of the technology that no longer works properly stripped out, like a proper handle on the sliding doors.

Nympha is standing beside a counter, transferring food from pans to plates, when Leeta speaks up. A fork clatters to the counter beside her, and the woman spins around to face her. "Oh! Yes, of course." She swiftly regains her smile, and gestures to one of the filled plates. Another young woman briefly peers through a door on the other side of the kitchen, then slips away. "Very nice of you to offer. Is that normal for your kind?"

[JohnTheSavage]

Sol'ari makes a note of the message, having to keep a light jog, taking multiple steps for every one of the Cylan's own. Glancing around the gears in her head began to turn as she eyed the high walls with interest. Noting their steep craggy slopes and higher advantage. More importantly however, she noted that one couldn't see over them from below making them easy ambush spots.

"You know. I think I can see why the Humans chose the spot they did. So long as their warriors beat any enemies to the top of the cliffs they could pretty much bottleneck anything trying to pass through before it got to the settlement. Of course if enemies got ahold of the cliffs instead it would make coming and going rather difficult." Sol'ari mused, occasionally weaving beneath the Elcor to duck up on his other side to check this or that vine or plant.

"I wonder how they've managed to survive here so long? I guess trade with that Turian that was mentioned, but still there's got to be some sort of wildlife or resources here for it to have been considered a viable colony." She murmured, giving a small rock a light kick as she slung her flamethrower into a more comfortable position for easy and quick access.

"What about you Cylan? What do you think of this place? Been to any like it before?" Sol'ari asked, ever curious.

Cylan lets Sol'ari set the pace of the scouting, matching her speed with long, slow strides in a straight march. Every now and then, Cylan glances up at the walls of the valley, the gun on his back twitching ever so slightly every time he does.

"This is my first time off Dekuuna." Cylan replies. "The closest thing to this place that I have seen is the Hartot Forests, near my home. My mother took me camping there once. And what about you? I imagine you haven't either since, considering your age, wouldn't you have only left the Migrant Fleet recently?"

[Ramsus]

Kanri happily takes a seat and nods in greeting to Leeta before she gets up and leaves the room. She looks over Abanda and notes all the weapons and appearance and replies, "You certainly are." and smiles back and tilts back her chair so that she's leaning back on only the back legs.

[Ridai]

"I'd like to think that way, but, you know... depends on the person." Leeta gives a shrug with a lopsided smile. "Oh, and Mr. Osheer had to go back to the ship, he's really sorry he couldn't stick around." Going to the counter, she fills up a tray and is about to pick it up, but stops, chewing her lower lip for a moment. "Um... am I scaring people?" she asks with a glance to Nympha with a hint of guilt in her voice.

[Hazuki]

Abanda pulls out the plates and thermos, then places one pair in front of Vatia and another in front of Kanri. She leans back in her seat with a wide smile - and then Kanri feels her seat tip just a little past the balancing point, then is treated to the falling experience where you know you're falling, but you can't do anything about it. The chair falls backwards with her in it.

~

"That's a shame." Nympha frowns slightly. "Do tell him we look forward to his next visit." She closes a left-open cupboard when Leeta brings up the townsfolk. "Oh no, not at all!" She assures the Asari, shifting a little to the side to let her get to the food. "In fact, many of us are eager to meet you.""

[Ramsus]

As the chair falls over, Kanri reacts without thinking about it and lifts the chair (with her in it) into the air. If she had been thinking about it, she probably would have just let herself fall since now she sort of awkwardly floating in the air at a weird angle. "Whoah! Uh.... " she says, startled and slowly diminishes the lifting. This still results in the chair winding up on the ground sideways and her barely managing to land on her feet and one hand in a pretty awkward position. She stands back up properly and then right the chair and sits in it like a normal person and gives The Biz a somewhat more appraising lookover than she did before.

[Comissar]

Vatia nods her thanks as Abanda passes over her food. Setting it down in front of herself, she glances over to the door Leeta walked through, wondering idly how long they'd be. Movement out of the corner of her eye catches her attention, however, as she spots Kanri toppling over. By the time she's turned her head around and is starting to push herself out of her chair, the Quarian is already awkwardly landing on the floor.

The sight is almost comical, and Vatia's mandibles twitch with the effort to not laugh at her colleague's misfortune. Instead, she looks to the other woman's faceplate and asks "You ok there?" Though her concern is genuine, she can't manage to keep the note of amusement from her voice, "Not used to free standing chairs after the bolted ones back on the ship?"

[Ramsus]

"There's certainly missing bolts somewhere in this equation." Kanri replies, still looking at The Biz, though she's grinning rather than grimacing as her tone would imply. She then looks down at the food and over to where Leeta went and then back at her food, wishing the asari would hurry up and finish their pole dance or whatever so they could eat already.

[Hazuki]

Abanda winks at Kanri. "I didn't know that Quarians could use biotics. I never really saw them at all, before Fairlight." She adds, conversationally. "And that was all learning how to, you know," She mimics firing a pistol with her hand. ""Does it tingle? Using them."

[Ramsus]

"It's pretty rare. Outside of uh...... special cases. Which I guess are also rare. You hummanz are also pretty new to us too." She replies, intentionally getting the name of the race wrong.

She puts a finger to her temple in thought. "Tingle? I wouldn't describe it as a tingle it's just. Uh.... I have no idea how to put it in words. I bet there's asari words for it. I bet they have lots of words for it. They probably have one for how it feels to make a barrier over yourself in the rain on a foggy day." she says making all sorts of gratuitous gesticulation and imitating a flowery way of speech at the end.

[Shimmer]

"Ah. I bet that was nice. This is my first time planet-side anywhere other then Palaven." She explained leaping up onto one of the larger, flatter rocks in their path, balancing for a second, before hopping down as she enjoyed the lighter gravity.

"I've never seen the Migrant Fleet actually. I've heard of it, but never really visited. I was born on the Citadel and when my mother died when I was very young I was adopted by my Family. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to rejoin my race, but I don't think I'd be a good fit. I'm more Turian then Quarian and I'd miss my brothers something fierce." Sol'ari spoke, finally settling into a slightly steadier pace, with a little less play and a little more walking as she glanced up at the looming Elcor.

"But hey I guess that just means we'll have a lot of firsts to experience and a lot of neat stories to tell when we get home." She added cheerfully and though he couldn't see her face clearly from what light he could see filtering into her visor he could make out the curve of her lips and the sense from her voice that she was probably smiling.

[Ridai]

Leeta gives a grateful smile, taking the tray to the other room.

Suddenly, from behind her, Kanri hears "To paraphrase Zaria Demesa, one of my favorite huntresses, when asked a very similar question by a human poet: 'Yeah. We call it not getting shot in the rain on a foggy day.'" And Leeta sets down the tray, seats herself along with Nympha, and cheerfully adds "Have a nice meal, everyone!"

Curious about the local dishes, Leeta eagerly tries a bit of everything.

[Ramsus]

Kanri cracks up at this, laughing fairly loudly for a few seconds before calming down. Kanri does much the same as Leeta did, making sure she has a bit of everything on her plate before briefly opening her mask to eat, which she does fairly quickly. If anyone is paying attention (and isn't too surprised to see a Quarian open their mask in a public place), they'll see she's clearly somewhere in her mid to late twenties, has dark blue (prussian blue to be precise) hair that isn't particularly long or short, and her eyes are a solid golden color.

((She'll close the mask as soon as she's done eating, but I don't want to declare her doing actions ahead of time. Just assume she does at some point if I forget to state it.))

[Ridai]

Leeta has heard that quarians are usually confined to their suits, but has met only few of them in person, so the opening mask fuels her curiosity. Seeing the quarian underneath the mask, the girl marvels at the sight in front of her. "Ooh, you're really pretty!" she comments in between bites.

[Hazuki]

Abanda genuinely seems to not notice Kanri's mispronunciation.

Nympha brings the other two plates in, for herself and Abanda, who gets just that much more of a smile now that she's got some food in front of her. The dark-skinned, cloak-wearing woman observes Kanri for a few moments, and waits for her to finish a mouthful before speaking.

"I don't believe we've been introduced." Nympha says, with a cordial smile. "I'm Nympha, the leader of Angel Valley. I don't believe I've seen one of your kind before. Are you new?"

Leeta has a few options available to her, as far as the food goes. There are a few standard cuts of meat, like you'd see anywhere else, albeit with a slightly pocked texture. It bears a slightly unusual spicy taste, which is soothed by the unusually vibrant blue sauce that it's served with. There's a vegetable of some sort, which has been cut into line, ridged with a knife, and then had those ridges dusted with some kind of spice. And there's a bowl of oddly ring-shaped berries sitting nearer to the center of the table.

The beverage seems to be a simple juice, perhaps a little thinner than one might get elsewhere, but it has a pleasant fizzing sensation to accompany its tangy taste.

[Ridai]

Leeta enthusiastically tries everything, taking her time with each dish, only asking what everything is after she is done trying it all... probably followed by trying everything a little bit again if there is enough for everyone still after that.

[Ramsus]

While Leeta is asking questions about the food, Kanri just focuses on putting the food she can eat in her mouth and savoring their taste. Over a mouthful of food she replies to Leeta, "Moh? Fhanks." then swallows and continues. "You too, though I guess you're all pretty so..." and shrugs and takes a good swig of the stuff from the thermos. Which is when Nympha gets her comment in, as this is the only time resembling a pause in the eating before Kanri will finish everything in front of her. Even still she has to pause in the middle of bringing a forkful of some kind of spicy bits of some thick red leaf and tuber hash (she doesn't know the proper name of either thing) to her mouth to laugh, which causes her to drop a bit though she doesn't seem to notice, and say, "Kanri'Umoth vas Nedas. Quarian. I'm pretty sure you guys are the 'newest' race by a good bit. Quarians are just... there's not a lot of us." and then goes back to eating.

[Hazuki]

Nympha nods at Kanri's explanation, then eats a mouthful of her food while Abanda joins in with the fine dining. "I'm told that there are some tensions involving humans, out there." She says, with some small note of concern in her voice. "I hope that, whatever our people are doing, you won't judge us too harshly. We're not without our problems, but we're very grateful for what we have."

Abanda starts eating that much more quietly.

[Ramsus]

Kanri's understanding of galatic level politics is a bit vague. She understands that humans have reasonable tensions with turians and by proxy asari and salarians, but Quarians are never going to be a council race so as long as the humans don't do anything crazy, any problems they cause for those three races are at least going to distract the council races from bothering to make life harder on Quarians. Then again, Kanri doesn't care if life gets harder for Quarians in general, just if it gets harder for her. Trade regulations and how long they'll let the Fleet hang around and the like aren't going to bother her much. On a personal level, she's only met a few humans and they seemed much like anyone else. The criminals were like other criminals, the civilians like other civilians. They do kind of resemble Quarians so they're more fun to look at than a Batarian. Especially their funny looking ears.

As such, Kanri just nods and gives a very slight shrug.

[Comissar]

Despite her earlier insistence that she'd just wait until they were all back on the ship, with the food in front of her Vatia found herself feeling quite hungry. When Kanri removes her face plate, she blinks in surprise, though Leeta's follow up comment causes a chuckle. "How did that saying go again? Am I just chopped kidney?"

At Nympha's comment on tensions with humans, she shrugs. "There's Turian's out there that don't like Humans, sure. But there's Turian's out there who don't like any aliens. Tell you the truth," She waves her fork generally around in the air, "I think a lot of people are just jealous that you guys managed to beat us back after the whole Relay 314 Incident." A note of humour enters her voice, "There we are, big bad Turian military, and some upstart race shows up and manages to force us off your world. It's a bit of a blow to the old military pride. I think that takes a lot of guts though, myself."

Statement made, she turns back to face Kanri, a questioning expression on her face. Gesturing toward the Quarian with her fork, she asked "Forgive me if I'm being rude, but aren't you taking a big risk there?" She pauses to take another bite of her food, "I though', mm, 'scuse me, I thought you needed to stay sealed outside the fleet?"

[Ridai]

At the return compliment, Leeta smiles, but also waves her hand. "Oh, I'm just a scrawny girl with too little sleep, I don't even register on the scale. If, say, Ralli were in the room, no one'd look my way anymore." She says this as if this were a very normal, obvious thing, and she actually sounds happy about it in a weird way.

Hearing Vatia's comment, she goes "Awww, don't be like that," and for a moment puts her head on Vatia's shoulder. "you're my favorite turian lady on the whole ship."

As for what Nympha says, Leeta gives it a bit of thought for a moment. "You know, people make way too big a deal out of who's what species or where they're from and the like. Sometimes they talk like everyone of a species is the same, and they only have one opinion and one culture and stuff. I think people are just people, some are nice, some are not so nice, and that's pretty much it, no matter what some politicians or media are yelling about. I'll get made fun of for saying it, but I wish we could get along more often than not."

[Hazuki]

"Deadangle? She dresses like every day is laundry day." Abanda replies, slightly incredulously, to Leeta's comment on Ralli. "But it's her mouth that's dirty."

"You sound like Super Dragon." Nympha replies to Leeta, smiling warmly at her, and then Vatia. "He's spoken of the Relay incident with us before, though I remember it only from my childhood. I remember seeing it causing some strain upon my parents...but little else." She shakes her head. "Regardless, I'm glad to see that others share his compassion. Although..." She adjusts the position of her fork slightly, as she places it on the edge of her plate. "I'm given to understand that there are other prejudices, aside from racial ones?"

[Comissar]

Vatia chuckles again at Leeta's reassurance, "Verana will be heartbroken when she hears, I'm sure."

She tilts her head at Nympha, "I guess you mean the whole 'rapid rise' and 'favouritism' thing with the Citadel?" Her mandibles twitch as she considers her response, "Mmm... I guess I can understand why there might be some twitchiness about that, but I think everyone forgets too quickly that we also rose pretty fast." She pauses to take a sip of her drink, "I mean, sure, it was in the wake of war. But it's not like there's no precedent for new species to do well. Personally, I think our species are just too similar." Amusement enters her voice again, "It's like a rivalry between siblings, give both of us time to grow up a bit and we'll be the closest of allies. Until then, we'll squabble over who gets to play with the ball."

[Ramsus]

Kanri chuckles a bit at Vatia's jest, then briefly wonders how Asari actually do know which Turians are attractive by Turian standards or if they don't and use their own. She certainly can't tell aside from obvious stuff like weight and scars.

At Vatia's question, Kanri grins a bit, which is the last anyone clearly sees of her face for the moment as she'd finished eating and closes her mask, and says, "Yeah, most of us have to stay all sealed up in their original packaging. I'm a bit different so I can show my face from time to time. Speaking of differences and jealousy and all that. Heck, as far as I know you might be the first humans to actually see under one of our masks."

As the conversation moves on to politics Kanri says, "Yeah. The whole citadel races and which of those get seats on the council. All sorts of political issues and prejudices and things to get bent out of shape about. A wondrous mess that is. Probably for the best you're out here and not dealing with all that garbage."

[Hazuki]

"I looked it up on the extranet." Abanda says to Kanri, after she mentions unmasking "She was beautiful, but my gang thought it was edited."" She rolls her eyes. "Like anybody would do that!"

Nympha nods at Vatia and Kanri's explanations of the politics evolved, focusing her eyes on each of them in turn. "Perhaps you're correct. It would be nice to have the comfort of being able to see the others out there, even if there are struggles." She comments, idly turning her fork over in her hand. "Ah, but who am I to question your judgments?" She beams. "Especially as guests in my home!"

[Comissar]

Vatia shrugs, "If anything, I'd say that home is the one place you do get to question your guests. After all," She tilts her head to their human host, "We're in your debt for this meal and letting us into your home."

She lowers her fork, reaching instead for her glass. Raising it toward Nympha, her mandibles twitched as she said "I'm sure the others will join me in thanking you for your hospitality, and for going to the trouble of feeding us. If it tastes as good as it smells," She lowers her glass, "I'm sure it is a real treat."

[Ramsus]

Kanri nods in agreement, but finds that for her at least the conversation has taken an awkward turn. So she changes the subject by saying, "Oh yeah. One of the others who helped bring stuff over with me wanted to know about your capes and if you make them here."

[Hazuki]

Nympha smiles warmly at Vatia for her toast, then looks to Kanri and adjusts the shoulder of her cloak self-consciously. "We've made them ourselves, yes. A great deal of the things we grow offer vibrant dyes."

[Ramsus]

"Neat! Any chance we could get some? I have something in mind and I think one of our other companions had something in mind too." Kanri says.

[Hazuki]

"I can certainly lend you some for the duration of your stay." Nympha offers. "Making one for each of you can take a few days, and we'll need to fit them for your bodies..."

[Ramsus]

Kanri looks to the other two and asks, "Either of you know how long we're sticking around for?"

[Ridai]

"Actually..." Leeta considers for a moment. "uh, I have no idea. Maybe we should give Mr. Osheer a call, see if there's a schedule? I wouldn't want to cause any trouble."

[Hazuki]

"We're to be neighbors soon, aren't we?" Nympha asks, looking between her gathered guests with curiosity. "I don't think we need to worry about schedules just yet. You can always fly over to pick them up."

[Ridai]

"I... I don't know? I'm not sure how they run things, I was just invited along..." Leeta looks to the actual Fairlight members for help.

[Ramsus]

"I just joined up the day before we were heading out, I've mostly been training so I'm also not really sure." Kanri says and looks over to Vatia.