<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/Ey3kNQB.jpg)</div><br/><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial black;">NAME:</span></strong>Ashton “Ash” Chase (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=329085.new#new)<br/><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial black;">RACE:</span></strong>Human<br/><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial black;">OCCUPATION:</span></strong>Head of Security<br/><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial black;">Date:</span></strong>23rd December, 2174 CE | Morning<br/><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial black;">WEARING:</span></strong>Shown<br/><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial black;">LOCATION:</span></strong>Communications<br/><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial black;">CONTENT:</span></strong>(Not) First Contact<br/><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial black;">TAG:</span></strong>Aria || Set-up for the next scene.<br/><br/><div align="center"> ___________________________________________________________</div><div align="center"> ___________________________________________________________</div><br/>Ashton inhaled the steam deeply, willing the caffeine to enter her systems and jump-start her brain. But as glorious as the first cup of coffee might smell first thing in the morning, it never seemed powerful enough to chase the lingering haze of restless sleep.<br/><br/>She stared at a blurry screen, coordinates and data streamed by like warbled static across an old-timey television screen, and each time it refreshed they were that much closer to the Sahrabarik system. In a little under ninety minutes, they would be leaving the Omega relay and be on a direct course to the station itself. Assuming a certain asari didn’t send orders to blast them right out of the sky…<br/><br/>But telling that to the crew would only put them on edge, and she was feeling enough anxiety to spare them the burden. In a few moments, Ashton would have a better idea of how their presence was going to be received. Already she sent word out to Aria to gain a sense of what she thought of Ipako, but the current state of their prisoner threw in a variable she could only speculate. Either Aria was going to be curious… or she was going to shrug it off and not give a damn.<br/><br/><em>Forty seconds.</em><br/><br/>The comms buoy was nearly in range. In a handful of seconds, Ashton would know if she needed to send an alert to everyone on the ship, or sigh in nauseating relief that they would at least make it to the docks in one piece.<br/><br/>Ten seconds.<br/><br/><em>Aria T’Loak, Aria T’Loak, Aria T’Loak.</em><br/><br/>Say her name three times, and just as they made it in range of the buoy, the screen on Ashton’s left showed the Queen herself. She wasn’t smirking -a good sign for the moment- and despite the hour she didn’t look tired or give any indication if she was going to bed soon or already pumped full of caffeine and getting a head start on her morning.<br/><br/>“Hello, beautiful.” Ashton chimed up, flashing a white, toothy smile, and toasted the mug of coffee in the asari’s honor. “Radiant as ever, I see.”<br/><br/>“Still not a morning person, Ashton?” Aria’s image flickered across the screen a few times, but the audio held strong. The closer they get to Omega, the higher the quality the connection will become. “One might think that you’re nervous about something. Since when were you one for social calls?”<br/><br/>“Figured you already pinged and locked onto the ship before we hit the relay. Thought it was only courteous to be here to reach out once more before we dock.” Exuberantly confident, that’s what she was going for. If there was any consideration in Aria’s mind to blow up the Kalanhai, she wanted to push it so far out of her head that it would start dripping from her ears. But as closely as Ashton watched that monitor, Aria didn’t seem to have goop coming out of either side of her head. “You said you had a job for me, but I’ll be coming with two others. Will they be crashing the party?”<br/><br/>Off-screen, Aria reached for something, spoke in a hushed tone to a batarian and his datapad, before he was seen wandering off to conduct his own business. This was such a routine occurrence that Ashton felt calmed by it. Having Aria’s<em>full</em>attention would have made her squirm. She decided to be bold and press forward once she found the proper opening.<br/><br/>“Really, Ash? An escort? Don’t tell me that when we last parted ways you’ve felt the need to arm yourself and put your back against the wall.” Aria’s smirk was both frustrating and somehow arousing all at the same time. “Then again, I’ve always enjoyed watching you get flustered.”<br/><br/>“Sweet talker. Actually; I figured the extra hands couldn’t hurt. I have a pair of curious figures I thought you might appreciate. One of them is under the assumption that they’re more important than Omega. Their business just might ruin yours.”<br/><br/>“And tell me,<em>how</em>did you come across this information?”<br/><br/>“Sweetheart, that would be telling! Information, as you say, is power.” Ashton winked at the camera but continued before anger could be presented. “I’d rather tell you in person if you don’t mind. I promise it’ll be worth the wait.”<br/><br/>“You’ve promised me that before.”<br/><br/>“And was I lying?”<br/><br/>Aria rolled her eyes, but that was the gesture that had the last of the tension unknotting from the pit of Ashton’s stomach. She allowed herself one inward sigh of relief.<br/><br/>“Come speak with me when you land. Bring your ‘curious figures’ with you and we can show them what Omega does with people who try to undermine what is mine.”<br/><br/>“We’ll be there with bells on.”<br/><br/>The connection was closed, but like a superstition Ashton found herself counting to ten in the off chance that any lingering picture or audio would be picked up. Then she sighed out loud, slumped in her chair, and finally took that first sip of coffee.