Hi everyone, I bring here a new story. It will be a series too, and I didn't forget the other two, I have both chapters in proccess, but the exams in real life is keeping me from doing any advance. Now, as always, I would love a Beta Reader for this story and I am trying to separate better the dialogues. I will try to improve the chapters in the rest of the stories to adapt the dialogues to become more clearer. If anyone have suggestions, please don't doubt and send me those suggestions on how make it better the story. Now, enjoy the chapter!
It was supposed that it would be a normal mission to explore new places to gather resources and new territories. After we used a relay, we arrived at the local system, where we could see some planets, most of them were unable to hold life on its own, but would be useful for retrieving some materials. But then, one of the planets we scanned showed that there was a civilization in there, but it seemed unable to travel around the space freely yet. It would be a mission to scout how advanced was that civilization, and if their occupants were civilized, to avoid the same mistake with the yagh. I breathed, controlling my breathing to maintain my nerves in control, ready to complete my mission. The only thing I had to do is avoid being seen by other people in there, until it was decided about what to do by the Council.
- "Ready for your mission, soldier Nazarius?" – Said the captain of the ship I was serving, Septimus Talid was his name and he was highly considered by his performance in some conflicts fighting riders and piracy from Terminus, and was expecting to serve some more years before retiring, and his years of experience made him the leader of this expedition. He had some scars, and he only had his left eye, as his right was plunged in one of the skirmish by the brute force of a krogan in his last moments.
- "Yes, captain Talid." – I said, as I was wearing my armour and prepared to fight whatever enemy stood in my path. I was at twenty years old, having to spend other ten in the boot camp, but I was recruited to do this special mission of exploration, as this was one of my best chances to do my best and become a better soldier. My family was expecting me at home with glorious stories of this mission, and I was glad that I would have more to say than that I stayed at the ship checking the systems.
- "Remember your mission. Avoid getting seen, and check how advanced they are. You have enough food and water for a week, and by then we will extract you. Now, go." – Talid said, as I made haste to the hangar, as the ship got into the atmosphere of that planet, and in the right altitude, I jumped off the ship, using a special feature of my armour to start slowing my descend, enough to arrive to the roof of a tall building, five floors worth. It was a coast city, with a harbour and some streets with space for vehicle to pass. At least it wasn't too much outdated. The night was clear, and most of the city would be sleeping. Or that was what I thought. I heard something unlocking, and I took cover to avoid being seen at the back of the entry of the building. Then, I saw something stepping in.
It was a humanoid form, similar to the asari. It was a male, with pale skin and with dark hair. His body showed that he wasn't in top shape, as a bit of stomach formed, but not too much noticeable. What surprised me was that he reached for the edge of the roof, holding it one moment with his hands, as he looked at the stars like looking for something. Then, he looked down, to the streets, deep in thought, but then, he jumped off, until staying at the outside of the edge, holding with his hands. That damn person was thinking of committing suicide!
- "I shouldn't do anything…" - I thought, as I was infiltrated right now, anybody who saw me should die before something happened, and my mission must continue. But then, my body moved of its own, grabbing that person and throwing it to the ground, safe from falling to the void. I freaked a moment, thinking of how I screwed up, but that person only looked at me, with hurt in his eyes. Then, he looked at how I was, and then he opened in surprise his eyes, saying something that I couldn't understand, getting up and trying to speak to me. I only pointed with my weapon making the person freak out, but not increasing his voice. Then, he made gestures with his hands, trying to make an understanding, as saying that I lowered my weapon, that he wasn't going to do anything. It was strange, he would try to kill himself by throwing himself to the void, and then he would become afraid of dying by a weapon.
I lowered a bit my weapon, seeing how his face softened. By the look, maybe he was at his twentieth like me. Then, he made some gestures that I couldn't understand, until he start walking to the door. Now I had to decide if I killed him to keep secret my mission, or to follow him. At least one point was cleared, as that person was rational enough to make diplomacy. Then, a message of my Omni-tool showed, clearing my doubts.
- "I saw that through the camera of your armour. Follow him, but at the sight of danger kill him." – Said that message from the captain. I hided my Omni-tool before that person turned back to me, making a wide gesture that signalled that I followed him. I nodded, and started to follow him, going down to the stairs until we reached a door he opened up, showing an apartment that had some commodities. He signalled to the sofa, probably trying to say that if I wanted to sit I could, but I stayed up, in the middle of the living room. It was small, the same as the apartment, and probably that person was living alone.
That person sighed, as he tried to say something that I couldn't understand. Then, he made a gesture that indicated an idea, as I raised an eyebrow that was hide by my mask, as he reached for a paper and some type of writing material, and wrote something and gave it to me. The words were strange, but I decided to scan it with my visor and send it to the Omni-Tool, trying to translate it. Then, the words came out, seeming like some rules of the language used in the planet, probably trying to facilitate the communication between us. I worked a moment in the Omni-Tool, and provided itself with a translator using the basic algorithm provided by that person, that was waiting patiently, but showing that he was nervous.
Finally, the app finished building, and started functioning. – "Do you understand me?" – I said, trying to see if the app worked, and by the surprised face of that person I could tell that it worked. Then, he seemed to snap out of the shock enough to be able to speak again, but still a bit shaken… maybe because he was going to kill himself before or by my presence.
- "Yes, I was surprised, that's all. And thank you for saving me, I was going to commit something that I shouldn't do…" - He said, smiling weakly, but with honesty and uncertainty of where to look, probably trying to see my eyes without success thanks to my helmet. Then, after a few moments, he decided to get at the matter at hand, surely trying to understand things.
- "Well… probably you aren't from this planet, so… maybe some introductions are in order." – He said while probably thinking on the next step. I stayed silent, letting that person take the initiative to see where it would end, since it was better for us to avoid getting into problematic or complicated explanations.
- "I am Marcus, and I am twenty years old. In terms of species you would call us human." – He said, presenting himself, but not giving out details. It was a nice start, as now we could call their species by a name. Then, before I said anything, something started to ring, as the human called Marcus groaned before checking a device and turning it down as he gestured to me it was nothing.
- "I am Vyrnnus Nazario, and I am as you would call us a turian. I must tell you that my presence must stay in secret, or I may be forced some drastic measures." – I said, pointing at him again to make my point, as he nodded nervous I lowered my weapon again. Probably that was coercing it a bit, and maybe it will strain the relationship, but it was a necessity for the moment.
- "Well, don't worry. Even if I told anyone, I doubt somebody would believe me either way." – He said, with a glimpse of sadness… I decided to avoid prying in the matter, since it wouldn't be good. I sighed, feeling a bit hot under my helmet, surely because the temperature in this planet or in this part was higher than in the rest of the planet. But I couldn't let him know my exact form of my face, not until I got clearance. It was already a bad thing that he knew of my existence, and I intended to avoid giving more information than necessary.
- "Surely you would want to sleep or rest a bit… Should I prepare a bed?" – He said, making me raise an eyebrow, startled at the fact that he was going to offer me shelter. I only nodded, making him retreat to the interior of the house, surely to prepare the bed or something else for me to rest. Meanwhile, I reached for the controller of the television, similar to what was in the Citadel for the people who wanted the old technology, and I turned it on, showing the midnight news. The news were sending information about an economic crisis, and some terrorism made by racism.
- "Again that? That's the third time this week." – The boy I saved said, wearing his pyjamas and looking through his glasses at the television. It was clear that this planet have some internal problems of government, as it seemed that it couldn't avoid fighting between them. It reminded me of the krogan in that aspect, but at least not every human was like that. I looked at him, but he gave a yawn, probably tired and wanting to sleep. I turned down the television as I followed him to the room he assigned to me. It was a good room, had a bed and a good quantity of books to read, with some other things that seemed videogames, and a computer.
- "I will wake up at six in the morning and leave for classes. I will return near the time to eat." – He said, as I took a moment to observe him better. He wasn't fit, but wasn't that bad, since he had good shoulders and legs, and a bit of muscle in the arms despite the fat. But what called my interest was that he was avoiding put weight on one of his legs.
- "Are you hurt? I could treat you." – I said, but he shook his head, as he waved his hand before giving me a good night and went to his room. It was strange, he didn't had any type of clear wound from the form I saved him, and not in a way his leg would be damaged. And I could see that his left arm was hanging a bit loose… But it wasn't my call to answer, if he got hurt before it was his problem, not mine. I just sat in the bed, before spreading myself feeling the comfort of the bed even when I was wearing my armour, and I fell asleep, trying to relax before obtaining more information tomorrow.
At the next morning, I yawned before searching the house. As Marcus said, he was out, so I could search for things and speak to my captain if needed without indiscreet ears. Of course, I couldn't make a noise to avoid alarming the neighbourhood, but I could say that I hit the jackpot. I opened communications with my captain, which looked unpleasant… but that was expected since I blew the covert operation.
- "I said to avoid any contact… now we have to be careful since we take this opportunity. What did you learnt?" – The captain said, with a bit of an angry voice, but at least he knew that I could solve this mess up, and learn at a faster speed about this world, even though the thing of that boy and how to avoid problems later on was going to become something to solve in the future.
- "I could see the local news. It seems that the world is at war, as the terrorism is pretty common here. And there is a financial crisis too. And I could develop a translator to speak with him, since he wrote down some rules of the language here to scan. And the race in this planet calls themselves humans." – I said, expecting that this would suffice the information obtained at the moment. The captain was in thought, checking the information recompiled, but it seemed that he had some questions.
- "And the human? How is it?" – The captain asked, probably wanting to know about what to do about him. It wasn't a bad person, but he seemed off by a big amount. First trying to throw himself from the roof, and then hiding that he had injuries. I wasn't a detective, but even a vorcha would know that something was off about him.
- "I don't know. He seems kind, and intelligent. But he had injuries, and he appears to be on the edge, since I saved him from suicide." – I said clearly, and then another silence. Then, the captain ordered me to keep him informed, and shut off the communication to let me work. I started searching again the house, reaching for the computer in the room Marcus assigned to me, and turned it on to search about things in the computer. At first, the documents seemed like normal homework, until I found a directory with a password, easy to crack and see its contents that froze my blood. In a hurry, I stablished again communication to the captain.
- "I got info about the human… Now I know what was off. He is receiving what it seems similar treatment to a slave. He keeps getting hit, and those people make him do their work. It says that even if he tries to do anything to bring them justice, he ends up worse because they put him like a psycho or worse… He definitely reached the breaking point last night… Hell, it even says that he didn't spoke properly to someone else in six years… "- I spoke, terrified as I read the contents. It described every physical abuse he received, and every type of prank that increased in dangers, including lying to him about seeming interested in him for love and then breaking his heart as trying to throw him to the traffic to let a car crash into him. And that was for the part of people not related to him.
The documents spoke about his parents, his mother dead and his father was a tyrant that deprived him of every chance of selecting a path by himself, as if the father had the string of the life of his own son, and only spoke to him to tell horrible insults and redirecting his life without paying attention to the health of his son. I sent all the documents to the captain, and the order was clear, but it would need to wait for the permission of the Council. It would take some hours, but until Marcus came back at his home, it was time to kill and research for the rest of the world.
The fruits of the information I searched on the net was enough to tell that it would take years to the humans to stablish contact to another species, sufficient time to let the Council prepare for negotiation. My stomach rumbled as I saw the hour in the computer, seeing as it was the hour of lunch. I reached for a dextro-bar in my bag, eating it to fill my stomach. Then, I heard the door open, and I stayed still until the door closed. I was about to say something before I heard something crashing to the floor. I looked from the corner, in case someone entered with Marcus, but then I saw how Marcus was on the floor, making a pool of blood.
I ran towards him, as I reached for my medi-gel to start healing him. I could see that this time, those people went too far. The face of Marcus was impossible to recognize, and he had shards of glass in the face, along with his glasses broken. His clothes were ragged and cut, as some deep cuts were in his arms, shoulders and legs. And for the worst part, it seemed that a deep cut was made towards his chest, having a deep hole in there that was treated badly. Even with medi-gel, he wouldn't resist if he didn't receive any medical treatment soon. I stablished contact again with the captain, as I made arrangements to take him… Yes, this mission wasn't going as planned, but something was nagging me in my mind that I shouldn't let him die. I took him with my hands as I reached the roof in a hurry, where in a moment the reinforcement took us and started to give proper medical treatment.
After a few moments, we reached the ship, and the medics took Marcus to the medical wing to start the operation. The first impression was bad… he was going to be lucky if he lived through the surgery. I sat in the chair, in front of my captain as he had permission of the Council to bring only one person with his consent to the Citadel, to start the negotiations and learn if the humans were capable of adjusting themselves to the life at the Citadel. Without knowing, Marcus was going to become the first human to set foot in the Citadel, and become an ambassador… This was going to be quite a mes…