[Illium] Turning Wheels (*Closed*)

Finishing touches.

Taleeze was sitting cross-legged on a not very tidy floor of a public rental garage in one of the outskirts of Nos Astra. The area was mainly small industry and some erotic businesses (the kind she would not work for). But the garage was a meeting point for bike and car enthusiasts who rented space and tools there to work on their machinery. There was some noise of welding and hammering from another corner of the place but not much business this time of day.

She was cleaning out an inverter cooling pipe and fitted it with the flow regulator. There was just the right amount of play to compensate the heat expansion she thought with a satisfied grin. She wiped a hand on her blue-grey overall that showed some genuine staining from all the hands on work.

Before her was a dark re and chrome bike, a classic design from earth, enhanced in a few areas with modern day’s safety devices and engine parts. If all went well, she could have a test run of the engine later that day.
The control lights of the small mass drive core that directly was connected to the gearbox was pulsating with a greenish blue light, a few parts still disassembled, like the core vents, a drone was hovering beside the machine, currently idling.

There was the sound of a tuned sports aircycle's engine from outside, and a moment later Eafina entered the garage, wearing a rather nondescript jumpsuit in place of her usual assortment of classy gowns. She exchanged a few words with the rental clerk on duty then headed for the workspaces, spotting Taleeze as she neared.

"Hello dear," she smiled. "Trying out those parts you dug up in Sol?"

Without looking she triggered a command on her omni-tool, one of the storage bays in the back wall slid open, and her Wildrider hovered out on a countergrav frame, settling to the garage floor.

When Taleeze heard the sound of Eafina’s vehicle approach, she smiled. Some company would be nice, but she wondered what brought the executive here at this hour. When the purple asari entered she looked up and waved a dirty hand.
“Hello, ‘Fina. Yeah, I am tinkering. But the housing I brought with me is already fitted.” She pointed at the motor section. “That’s the piping for the core. Maybe I’ll dare the engine for a test run later. What brings you down here? Exchanging toys?”

She nodded towards the impressive Wildrider which was much larger and much more intimidating than the human construction beside Taleeze. From a casual observation one would not take the always calm Eafina for someone into such machinery.

"Taking a break from going crazy at the office," Eafina joked, with a wry expression. She blew out a sigh, crouching down to get a good look at Taleeze's engine.

"Good lines on that," she mused. "Can see why it's designed to be showing. Anyway," she went on, straightening up, "the Sisterhood's gearing up to push a health initiative - nothing radical, a 'get yourself tested' publicity campaign - and getting all the placements and sponsor rights and permits locked and loaded has been a yakshi bitch. That's how the Illium game's played." She snorted, then chuckled to herself. "Charisma politely suggested I come down here and 'do something with bits of metal and oily things' until the urge to strangle bureaucrats faded to manageable levels."

“Oh, but the cause is worth the effort. Things that have been a matter of course before the war are now getting pushed back.” She sighed. “I think a lot of newbies that picked up working in the body trade nowadays just act careless. I can see the many dancers that are willing give the extra nowadays… it wasn’t like that before the war. There’s a lack of information about disease and health risks… ugh… change of topic, it’s kinda depressing.” She chuckled. The last thing she wanted was the purple haird human mate of Eafina to kick her tzu for annoying her further.

“Genuine grease and metal chipping, yay. So, what are you up to, fluid changes or something more elaborate? How’s Charisma doing anyway?”

Of course there were quite many human-asari couples on Illium but somehow Eafina and Charisma were the only one among Taleeze’s friends. Although Skylar and herself already had a colorful history Taleeze was still discovering something new and it had not lost any of its excitement. Partly perhaps because Taleeze had confronted Skylar with many unexpected situations in their relationship that made the human discover unusual corners of her humanity.

Taleeze touched her omnitool and the hovering drone started playing music at reasonable volume, it was a wilder style, associated with maiden hoverbike gangs and turian free riders. A lot of free rider bands were banned from palaven’s airwaves because it was labled ‘sepper music’ but in Illium nobody cared of course.

"Mm. Well, we can only keep on trying," Eafina said, with a mild shrug. Taleeze was right though, she reflected internally; Apricity had recently had to let go a dancer who had taken it upon herself to offer extras without the club's knowledge, deliberately sidestepping the legal and health safeguards they could have offered simply, it seemed, to pocket the entirety of the extra payout herself. Eafina worried about her - without hiring a tracker, which was unjustifiable, all she knew was that the dancer had packed up and headed offworld, but she had seen in her own long career that collective security was often all the security sex workers could really rely on. Dabbling in solo trade could be the first step on a harrowing path. She wondered if Taleeze had heard of the incident - the club hadn't made anything public, but the backstage rumour mill left little opportunity for secrets, 'official' or otherwise.

"Good call," she nodded after a moment. "Talk to me back at the club if you might lend a hand, though. I don't want to splash you onto a poster that makes people assume you're an escort as well as a dancer, but like you said it's not just the 'full contact' side of the business that needs to know. We'll work on ideas. Later," she nodded again, catching herself before she could pick up steam. "Change of topic..."

She grinned at Taleeze's choice of music - she recognised the general style, but not the specifics. Even when she had been a maiden, her scene had been on the track rather than the open road.

"Control linkages," she explained, summoning a drone of her own which hovered over the Wildrider, displaying a wealth of scan data on projected screens. "Two engines per wheel, and no computerised control - you'd have to have an eidetic memory to come up with a design like that. The synergistic effects in the multiple gearboxes are... complex." Quite an understatement - she remained committed to the bike itself being faithful to its Rakhana ancestors, but for tuning the powerplants she had customised her drone to be her 'drell eyes', revealing the effects of minute adjustments without her needing to remember every tiny gear and vibration buffer that made it so.

"She's good," the asari replied, when asked about her mate. "Throwing herself into this Hallow Eve party, the costume holiday. Her dress is... well, I won't spoil it. Do you and Skylar have plans, or will we be seeing you down at the club wearing something unusual?"

Taleeze was partially envious of the much more complicated machinery Eafina had but on the other hand admired the simplicity of her little craft. She manipulated a virtual regulator on her omnitool and the oscillating mass effect field inside the engine housing came to life with a humming sound. She switched it off again and connected the pipes while talking to Eafina.

"Yeah, sure, I'd like to help if I can." there had been some hush hush talk about one of the dancers being fired for sidestepping the contract. While Taleeze had not known her very good she could not understand why anyone would risk health and whatnotelse for the quick credit.

"Oh yeah, we will be at the club festivity tonight, me mingling on the dancefloor mostly. I let Skylar design the costumes, kind of since she is a human and this is a human celebration. The same way she had me doing her body makeup on Republics Day in a way. She said she had a few ideas for costumes based on human mythology for the three of us, I am not sure what it will mean for me but she told me to be there an hour early so she can do makeup and costume fitting. I have seen part of what she has in store for Freh, some kind of omni-goddess for everything between love and war. Fitting I would say and it's mostly white and cream, colors that fit her taint so well! What about you?"

She mounted the last flange, everything was ready for a test run now. She wiped her hands on her overall.

"Huh," Eafina murmured. "Didn't know humans had female deities along those lines. I'm sure she'll be a sight to see." She grinned, making minor adjustments to her bike's front engines. "I thought I'd go Thessian this time, an acolyte of Janiri. Charisma mentioned it was a harvest festival, or associated with the harvest season in some way. The decorations she's brought in match, wheat fields, pumpkins, 'scarecrows'."

Detecting a hint of 'there we go' in Taleeze's body language, she shut down the drone over her own bike and turned to survey the other asari's work.

"Almost primal, isn't she?" she noted. "Wheels, powerplant, frame, nothing extraneous."

“You know how the humans are. Skylar explained it as some old and forgotten religion, not followed for centuries anymore. I know what you think, that’s hard to believe. That human pantheon all in all must have more inhabitants than the Citadel and all come with expiration date it seems. They change their beliefs so fast. Although, sometimes it seems to be the same thing under a new name and management after a few centuries… anyway, she thought this deity would fit Freh’ya and I don’t mind the costume.”

Turning to the
“It is indeed. The simplicity of form and function is what intrigued me. It’s easy enough to work on. Building all of it together myself… well, I haven’t done something comparable in a long time.” She stood and watched her vehicle, hands in hips.

“It’s good to see it finished. I spent a lot of money on it and Skylar was already questioning my mind. But I think by now she is eager to try it out with me.” Taleeze padded the second seat. It would be too small for Freh’ya probably but the huntress would want to drive it herself anyway. Only under supervision though, Taleeze added in her mind.

“I have run the mass effect field oscillator on its own already.” With a bit of hesitation, she straddled the saddle. Her fingers were running over the controls and gripping the handles.

“Let’s see if the venting of the drive gear works.” She looked down her side and gave the starter a kick. With a hissing sound, the drive core came to life and then the crankshaft started turning, the core vents crackeld in the same rhythm. Taleeze felt the slight vibration of the machinery under her. “Yay!” She played with the gas, causing the corevents to spit and rattle louder and faster. She then let it idle for a few seconds, before switching it off again. The core came to rest with a hum.

“Nice, I think the sound is not bad!” Of course it was very crude and loud in comparison to all modern engines.

“Hey, all good in here?” An asari head poked around the corner of the garage entrance. Her eyes widening when she saw the two bikes.

Taleeze had to laugh. “Yeah, test running this piece of ancient machinery.”

“You guys are so lucky…” the asari made a mock salute and disappeared again.

"Do you think Skylar will like the sound?" Taleeze asked Eafina.

Lucky. Yeah, we don't do too badly for ourselves, Eafina mused, glancing at the chassis of her wildrider with a grin. Thrase had never had much of a personal interest in her racing hobby, but he'd have liked this one.

"Just so long as you don't want to keep it next to the bed, I'm sure she'll appreciate it," she said dryly to Taleeze. "Has it got its safety gear installed? How soon are you thinking of taking it for a ride?"

“Hey, the is noise in the bedroom but not this kind” , Talleze replied playfully. “Sky has been looking into what she had called biker wear already so I can’t complain about her reception of my hobby! Have you seen her in leather lately?” Humans often reacted differently than asari would to certain things and Taleeze still was happy when she could predict a reaction correctly. Eafina had much more experience in that field. But to be honest, Skylar didn’t make it too difficult for her.

“Yes, it has a shield generator and of course I only wear protective suits with shields. But there are next to noe driving assistance systems. Not a bit issue as it is not overly fast, I predict it going 200 km/h maximum but it’ll be more comfortable going even less. It is not a racer by today’s standards but more of a pleasure cruiser, giving you time to enjoy the day. Actually I was thinking to take out Skylar to the Gemstone Lakes next Seerday. I would ask you two to come too but our pace would only bore you I assume.”

She read out some numbers from the engine with her omnitool. Everything looked good and there would be no overheating.

“Yeah, I think I will drive around the block a couple of times before I leave today….”

"It'll be a while before this monster's roadworthy," Eafina said easily, patting the wildrider's chassis. "And you two should enjoy the drive by yourselves anyway. Have you been up to the lakes lately? Works reopened the old Primacy Drive, out past the hanar enclaves. They're rebuilding well too, quite a view through the clear water I'm told." She smiled at Taleeze, then shut off her drone and motioned towards the completed Terran bike.

"Okay then. Let's see how much of a crowd you attract trying her out."

Fists and feet thudded as they were blocked, the sound given a slightly metallic edge by the biotic fields dissipating with each strike. Daia was glad of the breeze making its way through the rooftop's gust filters - she didn't feel she had anything to prove as such, but she wanted to make the most of Freh'ya's offer of a friendly brush-up of her self-defence skills, and had pushed herself hard through their rehearsals of counters and throws and disengagements, and now the 'warm down' exercise. The big commando, despite having the more strenuous role at the moment - her 'padding' fields maintained constantly, whereas those Daia generated as she punched and kicked only lasted the split-second they needed to - seemed like she could have kept going for days more.

Probably could at that, Daia reflected.

"I appreciate you coming over for this," she said, in between punches. "I know you're probably used to a more demanding workout." She threw in a turian-style spinning scissor, which - unsurprisingly - was intercepted as easily as the rest of her moves, but seemed to get a faint grin of appreciation for the effort.

She hoped their little training session hadn't been too dull for her far more experienced partner. She hadn't thought of coming up here to spar before - she and Ana needed far less room to move, since as practiced as Ana was with her sensors, it wasn't enough to safely trade blows, even the gentle sort; there were other reasons, too, why they tended to go straight to close grappling. But looking for a space to move freely about one another, the penthouse rooftop's landing pad has struck her as eminently suitable, so she had shifted the Talbot and Ana's Jaguar off to one side, brought up the large mat, and had a wonderful time. Even if she had been on the receiving end of most of the action - Daia was quite certain Freh'ya had gone a lot easier on her than she did with her regular trainees, and was appropriately grateful.

Prolonged Leave. That was the term for what she had been granted after the “Trategos Affair”. Her taste for snow was satisfied for the immediate future and she was happy that Illium was such a warm world. But even such a family holiday and the chance to spend time with her mates was no excuse to slouch so she kept her fitness regime up. Skylar had shown her a good gym and a few running tracks. She had played ball a bit on a very spectacular roof top court, together with another asari, someone from Daia’s office. That Vale had given her and Taleeze some looks at first but had been fun overall.

Now she was happy to spend some more time with Daia, the asari Taleeze was so fond of. It is said that you learn a great deal about a person if you meet them in close quarter fights. Such were her thoughts and observations while she was blocking the kicks and hits by the escort.

Freh’ya noted the lean muscles and excellent shape of Daia’s body, displayed in the tight sports wear. She had perfect coordination and moved like fluid. Her major weakness was speed and dedication for a fight. She did not fight to hurt the opponent but to work her body. Well, that would have been a weakness if she wanted to apply as a huntress but in her line of work, it may have been just the perfect thing. Extreme, certainly above average body awareness and quite decent fitness must make her an unforgettable pleasure to be with. Dancers and sports professionals… Freh’ya grinned, while she blocked a surprising turian style move.

“It’s a pleasure to be invited. Your place is great and I enjoy the opportunity to spend more some time with you while I can.” Of course her sweat level wasn’t high but even such a workout was worthwile. No need to wrestle a krogan every day.

She made a counter swing at Daia, not full speed or force of course but she made the dark blue asari duck and block. She grinned and picked the pace up a bit, deked a low blow but landed a hit on Daia’s upper arm instead but nothing overly aggressive. She went back to act as punching bag.

“You keep in good shape though, nothing to be ashamed of. And I can pummel my recruits for real once back home. I bet they lost some form while I was away!” she grinned, showing her teeth, bouncing on the spot.

Daia ducked the counter entirely by reflex - obviously her prior training hadn't been a waste - but was surprised enough that she couldn't anticipate the upper arm hit. She took a defensive step back, grinning, then moved back in to resume.

"Keeping me honest," she noted with a chuckle. Her father used to do the same every now and then, switching the kind of moves they were working through without warning. 'Respecting the rules is good. But don't let yourself get caught flat when they bend a little.'

"I'm sure they're missing you," she went on. "Maybe they won't feel that way so much after a session or two, but in their hearts..." She giggled at the thought of Freh'ya's hard-worked band of youngsters. Well, if they could survive her, the rest of the galaxy wouldn't be so daunting - which was the point, after all.

"You know, I'll be a recruit for real some day," she went on conversationally, in between flurries of jabs, which had the effect of slightly truncating her normally long, rambling sentences. "Not a Huntress, I don't have the instinct. But in a couple of centuries, mid-Matron years, I'd like to do my part for the Hierarchy, earn my full citizenship tier. Not front-lines of course - specialist instructor for the cabals. I talked it through, as a hypothetical, with a placement officer not long after I turned three hundred, evidently there's always plenty of call for tutors from diverse backgrounds to broaden the versatility of their biotics. I'd still have to go through boot first though, same as everyone else." She laughed. "Me, in some drab uniform, doing push-ups on a dusty parade ground." Her workout gear today was anything but drab - although it was proving to be quite resilient, the alternating solid and translucent fabrics looked as if she had wrapped a somewhat risqué spiral of tight-fitting cloth around her torso.

"How are you settling in at Skylar's apartment?" she asked. "Not too crowded in there with three people? Taleeze has given me the virtual tour-by-photo of your Nevos house, you must be used to an abundance of space, having that gorgeous beach right on your doorstep."

Stamina and air sure wasn’t Daia’s problem. She kept shooting words as she kept dealing blows.

“I have good speakers, they will keep them busy,” she explained. Her sergeants were all veterans she could count on. What had been left of Nevos’ forces had been reorganized and slowly was rebuilding with new disciples now. Three of the Citadel duct rats had already arrived at the Monastery on Nevos but it would take a couple of years until they became regular recruit ranks that could perform duty. Right now, the veterans were providing exercise and training hours at the monastery for the kids in education there. Most younglings and the former duct rats were still occupied with general education but a foundation was made.

When Daia mentioned her plans to serve in the hierarchy, Freh’ya laughed.
“I know, you and Taleeze, right? We talked about that and I sure will be around seeing that happen. Cabal training, huh?” Taleeze was a good biotic with honed reflexes from her active career in pildavi, she had no idea about Daia though.
“Just don’t completely corrupt the Cabals with your charm.” She teased. “But yes, it’s something that’s definitely an option given your heritage. So what about some biotic tricks? Anything up your sleeve you want to show off?” Freh’ya had no doubt she could cope with whatever Daia had in store. But no harm in ending a training session with a bit of biotics flashing beyond the barriers and enhanced punches.

“The apartment is small, yes, but it’s working, the most important thing is being together for some time. The real estate prices probably are not comparable and the view is spectacular! Skylar mentioned she never had planend for a bed for three though. I just try to take up as little space as possible. Anyway, I’ll be spending time here only at leave times and for two weeks at a time the place is big enough. I don’t carry much luggage.” She remembered the dresses Skylar and Taleeze had purchased for her though, knowing she would not bring much. Treats can’t be avoided, she mused, both of them liked her to look nice and she was glad to see them happy, so she always played along when they were both dressing her up. Enjoying it a little bit herself of course.

parade, parade punch!
“I do miss the beach, I’ll admit that! I’m glad you liked it. If you ever are washed our way, the place is open for you of course.”

"She'll make you proud," Daia said with confidence. "Me, well... who knows, I'll be well into Matron by then. Maybe I'll come over all respectable?" She chuckled at the thought; she was long since resigned to the reality that, even if she curtailed her media appearances, some enterprising recruit would dig deep enough on the extranet to find a lot more of their instructor than they'd have expected. Well, she wasn't ashamed - and the Hierarchy by and large made good on judging a person on the performance of her duties, not what she chose to get up to on her own time.

"I don't really have any secret battle magic techniques," she giggled. "A couple of tricks, maybe. Check this out!" She crouched back, ready to strike, her biotic field flaring up over her whole body, then the lunged - to the left, while the field went right, a spectral image of her in the split second before it dissipated. Freh'ya wasn't caught entirely off guard - Daia had no illusions about how hard that would be, especially having given warning - but she had the satisfaction of the commando stepping back into a defensive posture for a moment, buying a second to identify the distraction for what it was.

"A bit of sleight-of-hand," she laughed, raising her arms to guard as Freh'ya gave her a quick one-two pair of taps, intercepted by her forearms, to keep her from pressing her advantage. "Honestly, unless there're any real prodigies in my 'class', I don't imagine that'll be on the agenda. It'd be more to do with fine control. You know how alien biotics are, especially the young ones. None of the precision we take for granted. Plenty of power, but focusing it, without wasting half of it on random field pops on the periphery... You know what they say. 'One steady hand is worth a dozen wild swings'? I'm sure they'll have other tutors to show them how to charge and throw and all that. Never been my strong suit anyway. But precision, I can do."

She smiled warmly at the open invitation, and nodded her acceptance.

"I'd love to, thank you." She chuckled at the thought of Freh and Taleeze and Skylar all crowded into a bed. "I'm sure you don't mind the bed being a cosy size that much."

She backed off a bit, raising her hand; their workout had been going on for a while, and since it seemed her mouth wasn't going to keep quiet any time soon, perhaps it was better to call it a day for now, and chat in comfort rather than trying to talk and spar at once.

"How are you feeling, shall we head inside? I know that was just a light jog for you, but I could use a shower."

Freh'ya was humming in admiration at Daia's trick.
"Good, defense and distract techniques are good. It's obvious you have spent time on Omega. Concentrate on a few moves but do them well."

She chuckled at her self-reflection. The hierarchy had at times and on occasions invited asari adult and entertainment stars for performances for the troops. Of course, this was no such time and probably would not be for a while but Daia would easily be able to hold her own in a krell-pond.

A slight blush went up her cheeks when Daia teased her about the bed. She sure wasn't prude but Daia was in her domain there and Freh'ya was sure (from what little she knew about the performances of her mate's ai'a me) she could not compete in that area. She knew Daia had even advised Taleeze on practices for three, she also knew about their meld. The way Taleeze had looked at her when she had told her had left no doubt about the feelings of the small azure dancer towards Daia and Freh'ya was happy that her mate had such a reliable new sister.

When her dark skinned opponent called it quits, she took a step back and released the remaining tension in a biotic melee, sending a quite loud boom into the neighborhood. She bowed to Daia, then took her towel.
"Don't worry, it was fun and relaxing. Feel free to call me up any time, I hope is was worthwhile for you as well. If you want, I could show you on or two moves next time, easy ones you can practice yourself. Shower sounds good though, but I need a drink first!"
She was sweating as well of course, the body reacting to expected workout even if it wasn't done to exhaustion.

"So, what's up with you, any new movies upcoming, or any new shows?"

Daia grinned at the impressive reverberation of Freh'ya's field release; her own was a much more modest 'pop'.

"I'd like that," she smiled at the offer of more tuition. "Never too old to learn, and all that. Come on in, what'll you have?" She had filled a cooler with various options and left it at the door leading into the house.

"Nothing new on the film horizon yet," she said, choosing an enriched juice for herself. "There's a couple of press events and whatnot for I&I - Impulse and Imperturbability, the elcor one, not sure if Taleeze mentioned it? Classic high-society drama, I think it turned out really well. They're not making a big deal of promotion in terms of parties and all that, the studio feels - I'd agree - it's more of a couples-evening-on-the-couch kind of film." She followed the initial few sips of her juice with a big gulp, and gave a satisfied sigh. "Mm. Anyway, most of the publicity budget is going into magazine show ads, that kind of thing. Alternative Historical Cinema Quarterly sent someone out from Dekuuna to do sit-down interviews with the whole cast, that happened last week. But nothing big planned after. They like to keep their lineup varied, so I'll probably get supporting roles in the next couple of release cycles before another lead role comes up." It suited Daia; making the move to being a full-time lead role star would have meant a much greater commitment, taking time away from Ana, Envirometrics, and the Oasis all.

"Are you going to the Pildavi Fever premiere with Taleeze?" she asked. She knew Taleeze was quite proud of the coaching she had done with the girls, and how their gameplay had turned out on screen; still, as an off-screen consultant she wouldn't be the focus of the press cameras at the event, and needn't make a big deal of it. "Did she tell you they've got some players from the Magnetars - they're one of the local league teams - doing a three-a-side twenty minute game in the film costumes, before it starts? News only came through this morning. Sounds like it'll be a pretty big show."

She put aside her juice and showed Freh'ya in.

"Pick your shower," she offered, stopping at the short stairway leading from the landing up to the bedroom level. "Main one's up here, and pretty roomy, but there's also the guest suite downstairs, if you'd prefer." She left the choice up to Freh'ya - she was still in the early stages of getting to know the commando, and didn't want to presume.

“Yes, we’ll definitely go to the premiere! It’s the first time I am able to participate in her new career as film advisor. You are a bad influence already, she’s been connected to all kinds of movies since she met you!” Freh replied jokingly. “But don’t you convince her to start a full time acting career, I don’t want to end as the mate of ‘that moviestar’.”

Freh’ya remembered the last time she had been here. It had been on her transit back from Omega, her voyage back to life. She had a fond memory of the shower in the guest suite… thinking about these days cast a shadow on her face for the briefest of moments. She didn’t think much about the horrors that had driven her, she had started, under the guidance of her matriarch, to repaint her inner self in brighter colors. She had been incredibly lucky to be graced with two loving and caring mates who had since then always been there for her and who had could focus her own affection on. It had helped a great deal but of course… the past is never erased, it can merely be outweighed by other things in life but you had to be careful, never knowing when they might come back.

“Oh, I’ll take the main shower if I may, I don’t want to make a mess in the guest room.” It really was the only thought that crossed her mind. Nakedness was a natural state of being for her, she did not waste thoughts about it, particularly not around other asari who were close friends.