The Flotilla had been Telena'Vela's home as long as she'd been alive. And she'd been Telena'Vela Nar Carterhaugh since her mother had transferred to the combination labship-liveship when Telena had been only five years old after her father's death from a somewhat suspicious suit rupture and subsequent rapidly worsening infection. Telena knew nothing of the galaxy outside of the Flotilla; she'd never been to a city or felt the soft impression of mud beneath her boots. Now here she was on the Citadel, the cultural center of the galaxy.
Telena had dreamed of this moment since her childhood. She wanted so badly to come here and improve the galaxy's opinion of her people. Her ideas of what she would do on her pilgrimage had been grand indeed. She'd imagined helping those who were sick, those who were suffering, perhaps through her sheer good nature getting the council to finally reopen the Quarian embassy. She wasn't expecting things to happen how they actually did.
Telena first approached customs at C-Sec HQ to register that she would be staying here on her pilgrimage. The Turian at the desk just glared at her and mumbled something about another vagrant suitrat. Telena's smile faltered a bit behind her visor, but she tried her best to keep her attitude positive, paying the registration fee without complaint.
"You'll find accommodations suited to your…financial situation….down in the lower wards…" The officer sneered before shooing her away.
"Th…Thank you, sir!" Telena replied with a polite nod of her head before hurrying in the direction she'd been pointed in.
After an hour of wandering through the lower wards, Telena was getting hungry. Hoping she could find a place to eat, she fumbled in her pouches for her credit chit. Pouch after pouch, pocket after pocket, she couldn't find it! And then she realized…The pouch she had placed it in was broken; someone must have broken it open and stolen the credit chit.
"Oh Keelah…." Telena slumped down against a wall and buried her visor in her hands, knees to her chest.
She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there crying before a deep, husky male voice sounded from in front of her. "Having a bad day, kid?"
She looked up to see a Batarian in blue and white armor looking down at her with what she read as an expression of pity. She nodded. "My credit chit was stolen, I'm alone on my pilgrimage and no one's really been very nice to me so far."
"Oh? Well that's too bad…But I'll be nice to you, sweetheart." He smirked, licking his lips slightly as he eyed Telena's curves hugged so tightly by her sleek black envirosuit. "And I'm sure my friends will too, why don't you come stay with us?" He extended a hand to her.
Telena finally looked up, having not seen his previous reaction to her. She smiled so brightly it almost gave the illusion of her purple visor glowing brighter as she took his hand. Finally someone was being nice to her. "Thank you so much, sir. Keelah se'lai." She inclined her head politely.
"Yeah, Keelah se'lai….good girl." The Batarian rolled his eyes as he helped Telena up, leading her towards a lower, more out of the way area of the wards to a run-down building with fading posters of attractive human, Turian, Asari, and Drell girls plastered on the outer walls. In the alleyway beside the building, a Turian, a human, and a couple more Batarians waited, talking, smoking, leaning against the walls.
"Are these your friends?" Telena asked with a gentle, nervous smile, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt when this person had offered to help her.
"Yeah, now come on, I bet they can't wait to meet you." The Batarian smirked, leading Telena towards the group. "Hey guys, I brought another girl. I don't think anyone else's place has a Quarian."
"Mm…Where'd you find her?" The Turian grinned, approaching and running a hand over the side of Telena's helmet, taloned fingers brushing her purple and pale gold hood.
Telena shuddered a bit, shuffling backwards to hide behind the Batarian. She didn't like the way his friends were looking at her. She felt like she may have made a terrible mistake. But the Batarian held her wrist, not allowing her to leave.
"I never got your name, sweetheart." He smirked.
"T…Telena'Vela Nar Carterhaugh…."Telena stammered, squirming in his grasp.
"Pleased to meet you, I'm Ragekk Garvan and this is my branch of the Blue Suns. We own this establishment and if you want to be able to eat, fix any suit ruptures, and have access to medicine without a credit chit on this little pilgrimage of yours, we own you too now." He sneered, wrenching the Quarian forward and shoving her into his group of friends.
Telena closed her eyes; tears staining her face, terrified what they were doing would kill her. Through the entire ordeal, Telena stayed silent except for small sounds of pain, she knew begging would do her no good and she knew with her suit torn in so many places and the feeling of infection already sweeping over her, no matter what they'd done to her these men were her only access to omnigel and antibiotics she desperately needed now.
She lost consciousness halfway through and when she woke, she found herself alone in a sterilized room, her suit repaired and the fuzzy tingling of medigel and antibiotics coursing through her veins. None of that was near as disturbing as the strange feelings and the pain in her lower body, though. A feeling of hopelessness hung heavy over the young Quarian as she hugged her knees to her chest alone on the sterile white sheets of the bed in her new home and when the door opened to reveal a Krogan bouncer escorting a discreetly dressed human male, Telena knew exactly what her life had become after just one mistake. She was sure she'd die here, a cautionary tale for young Quarian girls about the dangers of strange men and walking alone in bad neighborhoods.