Cantenelli paused as he met Kala in engineering. The girl was skittish as hell. He gave her a brief looking over as she directed him in the general direction of Taseer. The captain gave her a short nod, and rounded the corner, looking for the Asari chief engineer.<span style="color: blue">Taseer!</span>He yelled when he didn't spot her on the gangway into the drive core, which thrummed in its flux fields.<br/><br/>A pale blue hand wielding a plasma manifold appeared from an open access panel on the side of the walkway accompanied by a<span style="color: navy">"Ho!"</span>in response. Shortly after a head joined it as the Asari lifted herself up out of the crawlspace to her chest, resting on her arms. In her usual fashion, the Asari had her jumpsuit unzipped to her navel.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Where are we at?</span>Cantenelli made sure Kala was still in earshot.<br/><br/><span style="color: navy">"Operational. The core cycles were a little low, but Kala got that all straitened out."</span>Taseer informed the man, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Good. We're on approach to see about off-loading some of this mining equipment.</span>He tapped the credit-chit he was carrying against his leg.<br/><br/><span style="color: navy">"Expecting trouble?"</span><br/><br/>Cantenelli gave an apprehensive bob of his head in response.<span style="color: blue">Probably. </span><br/><br/>Taseer nodded slightly, thinking for a moment, then looked at the man with a half frown and squint.<span style="color: navy">"You want us up front?"</span><br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Nah. </span>Cantenelli gave them a dismissive shake of the head.<span style="color: blue">But be ready if things start to heat up, alright?</span><br/><br/><span style="color: navy">Yessir, cap'm sir.</span>Taseer gave an exaggerated salute which pulled the jumpsuit up with it, popping a blue nipple free.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Uh huh. Your peeking. </span>He pointed.<br/><br/><span style="color: navy">"Oh. Damn things are like caged animals."</span>She said, pulling the jumpsuit wide open and shaking them.<br/><br/>Cantnelli rolled his eyes and headed back towards Kala.<span style="color: blue">Your the picture of professionalism Taseer.</span>He received a guffaw in response.<span style="color: blue">Here.</span>He gave Kala the credit chit.<span style="color: blue">Its your cut from the account. Quarter mill. You pull that kind of work off every time and we'll be rich in no time.</span>He waved as he left.<br/><br/><span style="color: navy">"Huh."</span>Taseer said, suddenly standing beside Kala and eyeing the chit, she had straightened her jumpsuit and stuffed here tits back inside.<span style="color: navy">"Never had that many credits before. Shit, most paydays when we were just picking up trade lanes barely pushed 5 grand... I wonder what you could buy with all of that. Hm. I guess picking up a bunch of lead brained bullet hoses wasn't such a bad idea after all. We should knock over more slave rings."</span>The Asari got close to Kala and reached around her, putting both her hands squarely on Kala's butt and squeezing.<span style="color: navy">"You should buy a girl a drink."</span>She said, then laughed at Kala's discomfort.<span style="color: navy">"Come on girl, relax a little. Goddess, you've got the money to!"</span><br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>There was a knock a notification from the Science Lab's door that someone was waiting to enter. Armand Cantenelli walked in and looked around.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">I hadn't actually been in here since you got settled in...</span>He looked around at the instruments, looking at the various consoles mounted on the walls.<span style="color: blue">I have to be honest, this room hasn't seen much use.</span>He stepped up to one of the consoles, waving his hand to activate the holo-board. He casually called up the ship's data-banks as he spoke.<span style="color: blue">We haven't had much time to talk... how's your time here been so far?</span>He access the ship's restricted information, but was halted as it demanded clearance codes. He closed the databank. A few keystrokes returned the console to its previous function. The aging Human crossed the room and leaned on a vertical structural support beam, crossing his arms and trying to appear sociable. Even so he never lost that critical edge in his eyes, like a predatory bird.<br/><br/>He listened to Milenya's response nodding a bit, his eyes straying to the orange glow from a holo-screen on a desk against the adjacent wall, a render of the artifact from the dig site hovering in the air.<span style="color: blue">Learn anything?</span><br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>When Darion approached the Concierge, she responded with a polite,<span style="color: purple">Welcome to Nos Astra Space Port. How may I direct you?</span><br/><br/>His inquiry was met with a myriad of options as the Asari began rapidly hitting keys on the console before her, the opposite screen angled toward guests flitting through advertisements before clearing and displaying the various makers mark's and insignia's of the big name armor manufacturers. Kasa Fabrications, Hahne-Kedar, and several others. When Darion made a note of interest in Kassa, the Asari nodded and pulled up an advert for the company.<br/><br/><span style="color: purple">As a Human controlled company headquartered on Bekenstein, Kassa's expansion to Illium was only a recent turn of events. As I'm sure your aware, their contracts have yielded some of the highest quality integrated  combat defense systems in the galaxy. Though of course their products come at a high premium. Would you like me to arrange transit? Compliments of Nos Astra, of course.</span>She began hitting keys again.<br/><br/><span style="color: purple">There are countless establishments of both relaxation, socialization, and pleasure on Illium - depending on your preference. </span>She continued in regards to Darion's second inquiry.<span style="color: purple">If your looking for something that won't cost you a great deal, I would suggest The Blue Moon. but if you have the credits to spare, then two come to mind. Senosha is an erotic club featuring Asari dancers with private rooms available at a premium, though private rooms come with unlimited access to the girl of your choice.</span>The Asari concierge repeated the line in practiced automation.<span style="color: purple">If you're looking for something less down and dirty and more about atmosphere and relaxation in lavish comfort with personal attendees, then perhaps Elysium would be to your favor. It is a recent addition to Illium, modeled after your own human Roman period. In either case, your car has arrived.</span>She gestured to the door.<span style="color: purple">Number 12. Enjoy your shopping.</span><br/><br/>The driver of the car, a Turian in a angled red slit visor, didn't say much. Not that he had to. The seat back in front of Darion was running a news feed. Regardless the headline, a constant stream of numbers ran across the bottom of the screen from the Nos Astra Trade Exchange. A human woman's face appeared  on the screen, bald, full lips, a scar above her left eye with tattoos on her temples. A warning ran of a recent prison break and suspected escaped convict who went only by the name 'Jack.' The driver mumbled something derogatory under his breath about humans.<br/><br/>Kassa Fabrication's facility was immaculate. It occupied the 120th to 130th floors of a trade tower owned by Yulop Bal-Roly, and every square inch of the facility looked like it was laser cleaned on a daily basis. The entrance running from the landing pad was sheathed in white and lined on either side by suits of armor in bulletproof glass cylinders, male and female. Close examinations would confirm that they were fake, but it would require some time to determine it. Among them was the distinct black and red of the name that made the human company famous. Colossus.<br/><br/>As Darion looked at them, a man approached, dressed in a black suit. The sides of his head were shaved with mid length brown hair neatly pulled back on the top of his head.<br/><br/><span style="color: darkorange">Something to look at isn't it?</span>He said, hands in his pockets, rocking back on the heels of his shoes. He smiled, looking between Darion and the armor.<span style="color: darkorange">You know, before we hit the scene, anything built by a human for defense was considered cheap garbage. Not after they got a look at this bad boy. 900,000 credits for a full suit. State of the art. You know, Commander Shepard wore one of these at the Battle of the Citadel.</span>He chuckled and extended his hand to Darion.<span style="color: darkorange">Michael, I run our private consumer branch here on Illium. Marine, right? You have the look. What can I do for you, Darion?</span><div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>