[Illium and beyond] The beacon needs to be found (closed)

Skylar stayed in the boarding lounge after the secure doors closed behind the last of the passengers, after the walkways and umbilicals were detached and retracted one by one, as the freighter lifted slowly out of its bay, spreading its boxy 'wings' as its drive core took over from the port's mass fields and it lifted away under its own power. The handful of emergency markers and hull lights were a poor substitute for the spaceport's 25-hour-a-day floodlit state, and the ship was lost long before it reached the clouds that Nos Astra's illumination was colouring a mottled grey.

"So, that was that," she murmured to herself. It would have been quite appropriate had the rain begun - she could almost imagine the slowly panning close-up with the rainwater on the windows casting their undulating shadows across her face - but the unpromising clouds stubbornly refused to shed their load just yet, and it was with no more fittingly melodramatic accompaniment than the automatic public information announcements, and a distant argument at a claims desk over who had mislabelled whose luggage, that she made her way back to the concourse and summoned her 'car.

Funny. Taleeze could have simply said goodbye - she had always known the asari would one day, sooner or later, carry on her search. Intense as the attraction was - far more, Skylar readily admitted, even than her usual fondness for asari company, intimate or otherwise - she was prepared for it to end. This was always temporary... cherish the time we had. There would be sadness at parting, but not this... suddenly realising, had the galaxy been just that tiny bit different, that there might never have been a goodbye. Not this heartbreak.

She was... at peace with Taleeze's decision, she eventually decided - as painful a decision as it was to reach. Not to leave, but to tell her the whole truth, to reveal her love, and uncover Skylar's in return. Had she never known she might have been content never knowing, but as things were... As things were, there was that short time, holding hands in a departure lounge, when she knew Taleeze loved her, and she loved Taleeze. That was a good time. She was glad to have had that time.

For the rest, well, people got their hearts broken. Not just teenagers (or their equivalents, adjusted for lifespan) mistaking the rush of unfamiliar hormones for lifelong commitment - real love, that would have stood the test of time, grown only richer through all the highs and lows of the passing years... that had no guarantee. True loves were lost, forced apart by circumstance or poor fortune or just the wrong words said and never healed. Such things apparently didn't cause the galaxy to stop spinning, and by all appearances broken hearts mended themselves - scarred, perhaps, but a scar was a kind of healing. No doubt one day there would be some other asari - if Skylar had anything to say about it there would be plenty of asari, once time has lifted the immediate gloom from her thoughts, but one day, one who was more than that, as Taleeze had been. Was.

She could live with that. Eventually.

The airlock closed and the hissing sound muffled the sob that escaped Taleeze. What could have been was sealed off now. It felt like the rupture of lifeline, making her suffocate but at the same time she could feel the rush of new air through another connection that she was getting closer to with each passing minute now. A look outside a window showed her that the port facility of Nos Astra was already getting smaller very fast and suddenly a cloud obstructed the view completely.

She had a cabin on her own on this trip but Taleeze preferred sitting in the lounge with other passengers. Not that she wanted to interact but she couldn’t e alone right now and sleep wouldn’t come anyway. Instead she unfolded her omnitool and started browsing for accommodation near the dock on Omega. A couple of minutes and a severe amount credits later, she opened CDN to get her mind of things – which only partially worked.
Freh’ya, I am on my way!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The turian freighter had docked at Omega only a couple of minutes ago and Taleeze was already waiting near the airlock. She had not slept one minute but at least the shower had refreshed her to a reasonable degree. The gun was in a holster, covered by her jacket. She felt for it, just to keep her hand busy. It wasn’t exactly hidden but also not presented in an offensive way, it was just there.

The Omega docks looked dimly lit in comparison to Nos Astra, everything seeming a bit more makeshift, a bit more used, a bit darker… Some security guards in hardsuits and big guns were standing in various corners. Most people obviously carried weapons, more or less concealed but nobody was in an aggressive mood, it seemed more like as if nobody was paying attention to the obvious. It was a busy atmosphere and nobody actually was paying attention to random asari with a travel bag over her shoulder.

She checked in at a desk with an asari behind the counter. A batarian security, obviously from some bigger merc group, scrutinized her but obviously decided that this asari didn’t need a special security workover and so she entered the inner zone of Omega.

What next… she should drop of her bag at the hotel – actually it was more of a motel obviously, near the docks for people who didn’t plan on staying long – and then head to that club immediately. She adjusted her omnitool to Omega time. It was early evening already although time and day cycles seemed not of a greater importance on the station. But it was relevant when it came to opening times of the Periwinkle Paradise.

She looked around for a skycab station.

Just in front of Taleeze, Bintar checked the time on his omnitool. His taxi was scheduled for 15 minutes later. He opened his omni-tool, and went straight to CDN.
Hu, Pariah called me Goronak again... Weird. Maybe her translator is glitchy?
He starting humming a tune while browsing.

Obviously the public transport system worked a bit differently than on Illium and Taleeze didn't have an Omega cabcall shortlinked to her omnitool yet. Right in front of her was batarian that for a change didn't look as brutal as the others she had perviously encountered at the dock. He was browsing ... was that CDN? As good as anyone to ask, she guessed.... at least this guy didn't sport a shotgun.

"Excuse me, I have just arrived and look for a cab. Is there a special terminal I just can't identify or is this just a crappy dock they forgot in the network?"

"Why miss you're in the right place, but you're supposed to order a cab ahead from your omni-tool or those consoles here... Wait."

Bintar looked carefully at Taleeze then at his omni-tool. His face lightened suddenly.

"By the spider goddess are you Taleeze? You are aren't you? I'm Bintar! 4Eyes4TheWin!"

Bintar was obviously very happy to meet a fellow CDNer.

Oh, no, why of all people she had to run into the slaver guy! She knew him from CDN alright, but somehow had imagined him... taller. Well, at least he seemed civil and she would exercise caution.

"Yes, I am but how do you... oh, that is you? What a coincidence to meet someone from CDN here!"
"Thank you for the help... so how do i do this? I don't have the correct makro yet I believe..."

Bintar laughed a little.
"Ha ha! Close to 8 million people on this station and we run into each other! Mekan used to argue that CDN is powered by a probability vortex, there may be some truth to that."
Bintar smiled warmly.
"It's a real pleasure to meet you! You're always nice on the forum, and you got me and my guys into Pildavi. We're almost understanding like half the rules now!
Now now, about your skycar... Well it doesn't look so good actually. It's peak hour here, which means that you won't find a free one. You can order one but it'll arrive in at best 45 minutes..."
Bintar scratched his chin pensively.
"Where are you going?"

Probability vortex? Could be actually.

The information about the cabs sucked but it explained why there were no free cabs just waiting, like you'd see in Nos Astra. Their availability seemed a bit more limited, which made some kind of sense on the space station. Well, if it could be avoided, she sure didn't want to wait 45 minutes for a tidesbedamned cab. Taleeze sighed.

"I have to check in at my motel and then I have to get to a club in... Gozu, if I remember that correctly," she looked around, having no idea about directions. "I guess I can't just walk, right?"

Bintar's eyes widened.

"Ho no, I wouldn't recommend it at all! For one thing, it's far, you'd have to go through elevators and tunnels. And it's not only going through the nice parts of the city. When you can avoid it, don't walk."

The batarian looked sympathetically at Taleeze.

"Hmm this is quite the pikle... Hey, you know what? Let's share my cab! Gozu isn't far of where I'm going anyway, and we'll talk a little, between CDNers! My treat!"

He was again smiling wide, obviously happy with his idea.

"Waddya say?"

Somehow, seeing a batarian grin like that was abit unsettling, but maybe that was just due to the unfamiliar surroundings. At least it wasn't his personal car but a cab so she thought it wasn't too much of a risk...

"Okay, well, thank you, Bintar! I'll just drop my bag at the motel - I hope the checking will not take long. If that's not too inconvenient."

Great. Ten minutes on Omega and she'll share a cab with a slaver. Damn you, Freh'ya. She grined. What an adventure already.

"No problem at all, where's your motel?"

"Oh, sorry. It's the Dockside Inn, located at 435/C... whatever that means. should not be far"

"Ho your motel is in the docks? Those are... Not quality hotels. My hotel is in one of the classier parts of Omega, Kima. There are many hotels you can check in and they'll be much cleaner, with less vorchas going through your stuff at night. You may want to give them a try."

"No, it's okay. I don't plan on staying long anyway." hopefully, really. "Also I paid already upfront."

She was thinking about something for a moment, cocking her head as she looked at Bintar. "And if anyone screws with my belongings, I'll leave them as a smear on the floor after I put a bullet in their head."

"Now, let's just go, or I'll consider walking anyway." She threw her bag over her shoulder again, grinning at Bintar.

Bintar chuckled and lead the way.
"Alright then, the taxi is arriving soon, we'll swing by your hotel extra fast. So are you here for professional reasons?"

Taleeze's self confidence had been rising a notch after her little speech.
"Uh, no, not exactly. I am supposed to meet someone at that club but it is a private matter really." She looked around again in the mixture of cave and underground space city. Right now I am not really feeling like working on omega really. It would be interesting to see that club personally though. Their extranet site made it look quite tidy and neat, not what you'd usually expect when your mum warned you from the bad Terminus clubs.

The cab arrived and opened it's hood. Other then maybe being a slightly older model it wasn't much different then Illium. After they entered their first location, the cab took a mere minute until it stopped in front of a ... well, container assembly with a makeshift sign saying "Dockside Inn". Maybe Bintar had been right but now it was too late...

Taleeze jumped out and entered the reception area. A small salarian was sitting behind the counter and made a very happy face to see his asari customer...

~~~~~~

A few minutes later, Taleeze was out and in the cab again. Minus her bag.
"One thing I like about Omega is the lack of bureaucracy in comparison to Illium." she said to Bintar, grinning. "It looks worse from outside than from the inside actually."

"So, let's get moving. My destination is a club called Periwinkle Paradise in Gozu..." Taleeze was browsing her Omnitool for the address.

"Yeah Omega's not a bad place. I'm always surprised to see on CDN other member talk about it like you need to walk around with your own personal army to survive even a minute.

The Perwinkle Paradise... Hey that's Silel's club isn't it? I went once with the boys. They make an excellent Baror Little Devil, I recommend it. It was a fun enough place, not really shiny clean, but with character.
Speaking of that how did they hotel look?"

"Oh, you know the place? Funny... wait, Silel... damn, right! I knew i saw the name of that place somewhere! It was on CDN in Sil's posts. She doesn't post that often, I just totally forgot that." Damn, where was this going? Had Freh'ya been sitting right under her nose the whole time? At a club of someone from CDN even? This was crazy.

"Baror Little Devil? Never heard. I knew quite a few cocktails but that's probably a batarian thing... I will remember it."

"Well, the hotel is clean but the rooms are supersmall. I won't stay in it a lot anyway so I don't care. I just need a bed the uncomplicated way." And even that would depend when exactly she would run into Freh'ya. If at all...

"Actually, all the food on space cruisers seems to suck, I am bit hungry... would you know a place where i can get something? I heard you can get some of the best bacon at Omega's street vendors... varren bacon?" Asari have very tough stomachs, really.

"Bacon? Ho yeah that can be found... Just order some at the Perwinkle, I'm sure it'll be fine. From what I saw they have their own stocks of varrens!
Will you take some time to visit Omega while you're here? Some arcology are pretty nice, and you'd be surprised at how vivid the cultural life is...
Ho, and of course."

Bintar nodded toward the window on Taleeze's side.

"The skyline is a sight for the ages..."

Tides, that was a sight indeed! Taleeze remembered Daias words about enjoying Omega a bit. She felt like grade 10 badass, racing through Omega, next to a batarian slaver, on her way to a shady club, to save a damsel in distress... well, for a second.

"This is amazing, to be honest, this should be on the 'places to see' list that got posted on CDN, remember? There sure is no thing like Omega in the galaxy."

"There is such a thing as cultural life here? I guess so but the place isn't exactly known for it's opera houses. Say, do you live here permanently or are you here on business?"