The trip to Aite is short and uneventful. Elena continues to fiddle with their new acquisition for the duration, but she's happy to chat as she does. It's with a loud, metallic thunk and a shudder that the Jack of Diamonds finally sets down in the spaceport hangar. Elena makes her way over to the button by the side of the ramp, and after she hits it, the slow lowering process starts. As it progresses, Lucy descends from the ladder above,
#Spaceport – September 2, 2026
Ehanis has stayed in the hangar, not so eager to explore the ship that she only associates with the rescue mission. She has kept her armor on, and has had the helmet ready to put on once she's outside. She has tried to catch a very short nap during the trip, but without any success. She stands up when the ramp starts descending and picks up her helmet and bag. "Thanks for the lift," she says tiredly with a glance to
Elena as she approaches and awaits the descending ramp. She nods to Lucy as she looks up at hearing her climb down the ladder.
Elena throws her a small smirk, lingering by the button. "Olvídalo. Not like we had to go out of our way, eh?"
Vasquez comes into view as the ramp descends, standing not far beyond it with her arms crossed, frowning faintly as her eyes scan the inside of the ship, lingering on the APC for a moment. She's wearing her usual boots and combat pants, paired with a fleece-lined gray camo jacket, her sidearm strapped to her hip. Her hands are bare despite the cold weather.
Lucy starts making her way down the stairs, about to say something to Elena and Ehanis when she catches sight of the woman waiting for them out of the corner of her eye. "Chief Vasquez," she greets with a tip of her hat. "Eager to speak to our passenger, I take it?"
Ehanis returns the smile, and is about to say something when she notices Vasquez waiting for them. She takes a step on the ramp to step off the ship when Lucy asks the question, having assumed/hoped this was just the Chief checking on the new hardware. "Evening, Chief," she says with a nod. "I've got a few minutes to talk." Her expression shows tiredness more than anything else.
Vasquez offers the captain a nod, and then lets out an unamused snort as Ehanis addresses her, her gaze finally landing on the asari. Before addressing her, she turns her attention back to Lucy. "I take it your people can handle getting the transport to our HQ, captain?"
Vasquez looks back to Ehanis. "Bold, asking me for a ride," she comments, frown back in full force as she studies the asari, remaining in the same spot just off the ramp.
Elena grits her teeth slightly and shoots Ehanis a sympathetic grimace as she passes, back turned to Vasquez, on her way to the APC.
Ehanis frowns as well, and she walks down the ramp towards where Vasquez is to be out of Elena's way, but never getting too close. That should say enough even if she doesn't look nervous. They were not exactly friends before, and Ehanis knows she caused some additional stress yesterday. The cold hangar air is making her look less tired, too. "Sure was," she says, "but you didn't tell me to fuck off, so thanks." She casts
Vasquez scoffs faintly. "Good guess. I'd like some explanations." With that, she steps away from the ramp to make room for the APC to drive down, gesturing for Ehanis to follow. It doesn't seem negotiable.
Ehanis does follow, but she doesn't get any closer to Vasquez, and she goes to set the bag down on the hangar floor well out of the way of the ramp. She put the helmet on top of it. Whether that's to be ready for a physical confrontation or just not wanting to hold her things while talking is anyone's guess, but the latter is probably more likely. "That's fair," she says. "I can start with that I'm not here because I'm
There's a rumble as the APC starts up, and soon after it rolls down the ramp, the hangar filling with sounds of clanging metal as it adjusts to the weight of the hefty vehicle. Elena drives out into the shallow snow that coats the spaceport exterior.
Ehanis nods, and she takes a step aside instinctively as she hears the vehicle come down the ramp even if she was well out of its way. "Yes, Matriarch Malea Alayn," she says after the truck passes them by, looking a bit unsure as she continues, "I don't know how to describe her, really. She seems to know her crap, has a hobby of collecting old shit, and the colony is mostly glad to have her, but she doesn't have the...
authority you expect of a matriarch, I guess." She looks at the truck for a moment as she pauses. "Anyway, she told me to cooperate with you, even let you take me in for questioning if you must." She does not seem pleased about that idea at all. "She does realize we would have been fucked without your help yesterday."
Vasquez seems caught off-guard by this, and perhaps even a bit mollified, tense posture relaxing just a little, although her eyebrows furrow. "Hm. Alright. That's a good start. I'm surprised you agreed to go, considering how... averse you've been to cooperating with Redrock," she says, studying Ehanis. What compels the young asari to do as she's told?
Ehanis sighs and shakes her head. "I didn't like the assignment at all, to be honest, but they gave me a place to disappear to after things got too much to handle here, so I guess I owe them," she says, sounding weary and maybe a little bit unsure. "And I already told you I did disobey them yesterday when I and the krogan took off. The plan was to hunker down and hope the contact got the message to you."