Hotel St Kitts Planet Curacao
Cortez system
"So, how did it go?" Perkins asked Aela in that cheeky tone of his while he sipped some tea, as Aela practically collapsed onto her bed.
"Better than I'd feared, worse than I'd hoped." Aela responded, her voice muffled as her face was buried in pillows. "The delegates weren't tearing each other apart, and instead surprisingly enough, put up a united front of sorts."
"Are you saying that the Rhinelanders and Kusari agreed on something?" Perkins asked disbelievingly.
"Somehow yes." Aela replied. "All the Houses have agreed to a limited form of trading with the Citadel while they figure out the details. They also agreed to having the Citadel act as a judge for any claim disputes over future colonization rights."
"Hell must have frozen over, because I never thought I'd hear Kusari and Rhineland agree to… well, anything aside from hating each other." Perkins replied. "Best dress warmly then."
"What?" Aela asked, raising her head out of her pillowy fortress of softness. Once again, Perkins was acting… Bretonnian.
"Never mind. Nothing to fear," he replied jovially. "I take it, then, that talks will continue peaceably?"
"From the looks of it, yes." Aela replied. "The groundwork for the full treaties has been laid down already. From here, it's all fine details, and as such, Benezia has effectively dismissed me. I've served the Citadel well, and quote 'deserve the break'."
"Good," Perkins cheerily replied. "What say you then to us hitching a ride aboard one of your posh looking cruisers when they head back to that Citadel space of yours?"
"I don't see why not. You are, after all, working for me now." she replied as she returned back into her pillows.
"Ah yes. A bodyguard in space that gets to do odd jobs while you're off digging holes in the ground. I don't see why I didn't become a freelancer earlier honestly," Perkins replied deadpan.
"A little more snark, and I'll make sure to neglect to tell you all about the other alien races." Aela snarked back.
"I imagine it can only go as swimmingly as our last first contact." Perkins replied, his trademark grin forming in Aela's head again. "When is this Lady Benezia leaving, then?"
"A few days, and then they will make best speed for the Citadel, where we will be dropped off." Aela answered.
"And when is your next dig? I can't imagine you have one scheduled so soon. Surely you didn't plan for all this meeting new aliens, did you?" he cheekily asked.
"A few months, actually. Which is really enough time for me to spend some good quality time with my apartment on Thessia."
"A planet full of intelligent blue ladies that fling out strange powers beyond the ken of mortals like me." Perkins replied in a… strangely different accent. "Aye, my ancestors somewhere would've warned me of joinin' the fair folk."
"Are you… joking?" Aela asked seriously. There were some times she really had to ask with situations like this.
"Nay" he continued. "Really though, my… well bleeding ancient Ancestors, you folk qualify for something they called the Fae. Weirdly beautiful, very… effeminate, mysterious and you definitely have powers that we younglings do not have."
As an archaeologist that fascinated her. The mythologies of peoples long past helped get into the mindset of them at the time, and it certainly helped with the understanding of their descendants, even if only a tiny bit.
"That actually sound interesting. I'd like to get a copy of some of the stories before leaving." Aela replied.
"Just grab it from the Neural Net. Search for Fae, and Celtic myth. I'm sure you'll be fascinated by it." Perkins answered back as he headed out. "I'm going to ask around, see what I can legally bring when going to the Citadel."
"Why?" she asked suspiciously. This sounded like a crazy human plan brewing.
"If there is anything Liberty has taught the rest of the Houses, its that there is always an opportunity for profit. You just have to grab onto it with both hands and never let go." he finished as he left the room.
Aboard the Nalia
In Orbit of Planet Curacao, Cortez system
"You know, your ships certainly are as posh as they look from the outside." Perkins said as he strolled down the chromed corridor with Aela towards their quarters. "Kind of makes me think our own ships are ugly in comparison."
"Beauty is relative." Aela replied back. "Personally, I find it a little too clean and utilitarian on the inside. The exterior is more like what I'm used to back home on Thessia." Everything aboard had some clear purpose
"Like those pictures you showed me of that planet. Ilium, was it?" Perkins asked
"Not quite. Ilium is more like a fusion of Asari with all the other cultures that go there. It's our melting pot of cultures from all over Citadel space. Thessia is our homeworld, the center of Asari culture." she explained.
"Makes sense. Cultures are affected by other cultures, and they slowly pick up bits the other side likes." Perkins said as they turned the corner. "I'd rather expect that in a few years time, Human culture will be making an impact on Citadel culture. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Immortal Bard gracing the theatre."
"A famous playwright of sorts, then?" Aela asked.
"Everyone in Bretonnia and Liberty knows at least one of his plays. For centuries, we've been taught the plays and his works as kids. His work was years ahead of his time, and certainly still affects modern storytelling… Or at least, thats what Thatch kept telling me. He was a great fan of his work, and he admitted to me that if it weren't for his love for flying, his passion for theatre would've led him to the stage."
"Is it too late to grab him on your Neural Net, then?" she asked him as they entered their room.
"I'll grab it for you. I can still access mine." he replied. "And quite a lovely flat here if I do say so myself."
"This one's ours." she replied. The small room was rather spartan, containing only a terminal to access the Extranet, a bunkbed and a small closet. "Would you prefer top or-"
"Top please." Perkins quickly interrupted. "And done. I've got copies for you."
"Wait, how'd you do that?" she asked.
"Remember those cybernetic implants I told you about? Well, nearly everyone has them in the Sirius sector. And they let me access the Neural Net along with access to some of the other functions on my flight helmet's HUD. So when someone says they'll upload it to my Neural Net, they quite literally meant uploading it to my account. I've got my creds, ID, license and all right here," he said as he patted his head.
"While nice, I don't know how I'm going to be able to pick up a copy." Aela gently retorted. That was certainly very useful and likely would become a lot more widespread throughout Citadel space soon.
"I'm thinking a long convoluted process of me uploading it to my ship's database and then you picking it up from there." Perkins countered.
"That would work…" Aela replied, a little embarrassed.
"No sweat. Lets just relax and enjoy the sights before we leave. I'm personally excited to see what's going on in that Citadel space of yours."
"Its… nothing like what I've seen here in the Sirius sector, that's for sure." Aela replied. "Though I have to ask, what do you plan on doing with those ship components you were loading onto your fighter? And where did you get them in the first place? I can't imagine Curacao has anything resembling a factory here."
"Firstly, like any good Freelancer (or so the vids tell me), I plan on selling them to the highest bidder. Secondly, I grabbed them from another Freelancer who had docked here. She barely escaped an Outcast attack and took refuge here. Paid her good money for most of her cargo, easily a lot more than what she'd get if she were to go all the way to Baltimore." Perkins confidently replied.
"So, just how do you plan on selling all of it? Go to the first person who would buy it then leave?" Aela replied deadpan.
"Actually, my plan involved a lot of hunting around for interested parties, and then seeing which of them is least likely to shoot me for selling to a competitor, but your way sounds like less work and a lot more likely to leave with me not as an enemy of a corp." Perkins replied.
"What." was all Aela said.
"I mean, I know that if I were selling stuff to Kishiro instead of Samura, they might be tempted to sic an accident my way if the haul was lucrative enough, and with this, well… I imagine your people can't be too different." Perkins continued as he climbed to the top bunk.
"I assure you that no corporation would ever act like that, Perkins." Aela honestly replied.
"Yeah, and I'm the man who knows how to shield a Battleship." he replied deadpan. "I'll believe it when I see it, Aela. Meanwhile I'm just going to nap for a bit. Wake me up when we go FTL. I'd love to see yours in action."
"Alright." Aela replied. She could understand Perkins' level of distrust really. After everything she'd learned about Human cultures, she couldn't blame him. Still though, there was no way that Citadel corporations would act like that. That was the way of the Terminus systems, and that sort of shadow war was not something that the Citadel tolerated.
Tau 30 system
Aboard the Nalia
"Wake up," Aela said to Perkins as they finally arrived at the Tau 30 system.
"Eh? We're here already?" Perkins blearily replied as he slowly got up from his bunk. "Are we entering FTL soon?"
"In a few minutes. They just need to clear the asteroid belt." Aela replied as she slowly stood up from her desk. "Come on, let's head to the observation deck. I think you'll enjoy the view there."
"Righto," Perkins cheerily replied as he leapt off his bed and onto the floor. "Lead the way."
Aela smiled a bit and walked out, following the signs that directed her towards the Nalia's port observation deck.
Normally, such decks with large windows were considered liabilities in most ships, but the Nalia was created originally as a science/exploration vessel, and as such was deemed necessary enough to have one. It was only assigned to the fleet because of the relative unknown nature of the Sirius sector, and the Human FTL via the Jump Gates. Simply entering the Sirius sector had been an absolute first in Citadel history in entering a wormhole. Unfortunately, the Nalia was unable to pick up any new data from going through the Human Jump Gates. It did however, pick up a lot of interesting readings of the scrap fields they passed by in the New London system, and a lot of disturbing ones from the Leeds system.
"Aela," Perkins said as he quickly moved up by her. "I hate being so blunt all about this, but are there no unattractive members of your species? In my short time among your people, which is all of a few days, I've spotted no uncomely member of the species, and if this any indication of the Asari standard of beauty, there are going to be a looot of jealous and wrathful, and maybe a tad bit confused women back home."
"I'm not quite sure what you mean." Aela replied. "I mean, we Asari have a reputation for beauty in Citadel space, but I'm not sure why we'd cause a lot of jealousy and confusion."
"Let me put it this way, Aela," Perkins said as they quickly approached the observation deck. "Would you say you're an average-looking member of your species?"
"On the whole, yes." She certainly wasn't as pretty as her mother, or some of her colleagues at the University, but she was pretty enough or at least she liked to think so.
"Then, by God I hope to see a beautiful Asari woman one day, because frankly, amongst many of my peers, I'm sure they would find you very attractive. I myself do find you attractive but I have enough professionalism in me to keep our relationship strictly friendly, but by God, I've seen a few supermodels on the Neural Net, and the lot of you equal them."
"I suspect that's mostly due to our very similar external biology, Perkins." Aela commented as they entered the observation deck, where a few other crewmembers were also sitting. "For us Asari, you humans are practically Asari with little tufts of hair and unusual skin tones, along with a male sex. Your women have a sort of… taboo attractiveness to them."
"Taboo?" Perkins asked.
"It's… become a stigma among Asari to be the child of two Asari." Aela replied awkwardly.
"What? Isn't that, you know, natural?" Perkins incredulously asked.
"I have told you that Asari can reproduce with any species, yes?" Aela asked.
"I think so, though you never explained how."
"It's rather more complicated than what I'll tell you, but the simple version as far as I understand is that when we Asari meld, we use our partner's DNA as a basic randomizer to our own DNA to create a new Asari child."
"As a result, ever since first contact with other species and our discovery that we can reproduce with them, it has been seen in Asari culture to be more beneficial to go and find your partner among other species rather than another Asari. Purebloods, or Asari that are the product of a pure Asari partnership are... frowned upon in Asari society."
"Huh…" Perkins said as he stared out into space and the gradually shrinking number of asteroids. "Definitely different from what Human culture underwent for… well, a long time"
"We should be entering FTL in a bit though. Best get comfortable and enjoy the view."
"All right then." he said as he settled himself onto a chair right in front of the window. "I look forward to the-woah" he said as the ship just jumped.
Blue streaks of light, not too dissimilar from what happens when one goes into a Trade lane, were all Aela and Perkins could see for ages. They just seemed to streak on and on forever.
"Wow." Perkins said. "That is quite a sight right there."
"Wait 'till you see a Mass Relay in action. We should be there in a few weeks' time "
"That's a lot faster than anything we have back home." Perkins said he stood up. "Its nice to know that we're standing on new ground, seeing the unknown, and facing new things. It's all rather exciting for me, really. Never really expected this when I first signed up in the Bretonnian Armed Forces, you know?"
"And I never expected to become an ambassador of sorts when I became an xenoarchaeologist, Perkins." Aela retorted. "The galaxy takes us all to strange and wonderful places."
"I can only look forward to the future at this rate, Aela." Perkins replied.
"As can I." Aela said as they continued to stare out into space while they sped on further and further away from the Sirius sector.
Armstrong Nebula Mass Relay
Armstrong Nebula
"I wasn't expecting something like this you know," Perkins said to Aela as they both stared at the Mass Relay in the Nalia's observation deck.
"Were you expecting something like your own Jump Gates?" Aela asked.
"Yeah, but on a more massive scale." he said. "Don't get me wrong, it is huge, easily larger than a Jump Gate, but… a tuning fork? Really?"
Said 'tuning fork' was right outside, its distinctive blue glow at the center, where the 'tongs' met, showing it was an active relay. It was massive, at over 15 kilometers long. It was certainly a testament to the skill of its Prothean builders that something of its sheer size and complexity was still working after over 50,000 years.
"Like I said, we didn't build it. Though I think you'll see why we think it was built like a 'tuning fork' soon enough," she replied as the ship gradually approached the relay.
"It certainly looks like something you folks would build. It has all the things I've come to notice in anything Asari. Curvy, shiny and lots of blue," Perkins replied, another of his grins on his face.
"Like how Humans have a distinct tendency to go for big and blocky?" she countered.
"With a general ability to spring a surprise or two if I may add." Perkins replied.
"I guess…" she mumbled.
"Should that Mass Relay of yours be doing… that?" Perkins suddenly said as he pointed out the window towards the Relay as the blue eezo core throbbed with power.
"Yep. Enjoy the ride." she said. The energy in the center gradually built up as the ship approached until, in a blinding flash, the ship shot along the relay like a bullet. One moment they were in the Armstrong Nebula, the next they were in the Attican Beta system.
"Huh". Perkins said as the ship slowly drifted away from the relay. He could hear the crew scuttling around as they checked for what he imagined to be drift and any nearby traffic. "I'll be. It's more of a gun than a tuning fork, and we were the bullet."
"Essentially, yes." Aela replied. This was her world, and she was a lot more used to things this way, the nice and reliable Prothean Mass Relays.
It'd be nice to play tour guide to Perkins instead of the other way around.