This is a prompt that I received from a reader, ManLion. I know I am terrible, terrible, and really terrible for only just now posting it. I really wanted to do this story justice, not just whip together a half-assed 5k word story. It will still be a short story but will have a few chapters and will be more than 5k words. If you are keeping up with my other story, you'll know that things are a little crazy for me right now but I will try not to let months go by between posts. I won't post the entire prompt here (it is a little involved!) but it is OC/OC quarians, Jaer'Coh vas Rayna and Lana'Coh vas Rayna. I don't want to spoil too much so let's just see how this goes. If more information is requested about the prompt I can post it. These events take place around the beginning of ME2.
-So, I just realized that I posted the older version before editing... *facepalm*. I can't find the most recent one and I don't have the time to fix anything right now because I have to go to sleep for work tomorrow. If you do find something, I'm sorry, but if it is bothering you that much, you can send me a PM and I will fix it as soon as I can. Right now the earliest that I can read over all of this is after work tomorrow. Sorry again!
Chapter 1
There were only two sounds filling the small cabin, the hum of the engine and the quiet grinding of metal being sharpened. The quarian was alone on his personal ship, it was the way he preferred it. Working alone in the field had its benefits though it did get a little lonely in the field, but it kept his family safe, at that is what mattered.
He made one last movement on the blade before holding it up to the light and inspecting the edge. It glistened in the dim light, the edge perfect. Tossing it up in the air, he caught the handle and flipped the blade in his hand, double checking the weight. Still perfect. Just as he picked up the next weapon that needed his attention, he heard the beeping of a message coming through. Setting the weapon aside he turned and smiled at the message coming through the console. Opening it, he answered, "Hello, dear."
"Jaer," the female quarian on the other end said in an almost scolding manner, "why don't you have your helmet on? Just because you are a special quarian who is immune doesn't mean you shouldn't take precautions."
He smiled at her and grabbed his helmet, turning it over in his hands, "I know, Lana. But you don't have to worry. I don't flaunt it."
"I know, Jaer. Anyway, I have a new assignment for you. There is a lot of civil unrest on Taetrus, a turian colony. It seems that –" she was cut off before she could give him all of the information.
"How is the little one doing?" he could tell that she was giving him a very scolding look under her mask.
"If only you could see my face right now, bond-mate," she shook her head but there was a little laughter behind her words. "Jaer'Coh Jr. is doing just fine. But he does miss his father."
He heard her tone change, "I know, dear. I wish I hadn't been sent out so soon."
"Well, once you get this job finished, you can come home to the Rayya." She could see the regret on his face that he was not able to be there for his family. Lana didn't blame him, she would never dream of it; it was men like him who made the galaxy a little more bearable.
"I'm sorry, go ahead. Tell me about the job."
"It seems that there is a batarian warlord terrorizing the planet. His motives are unclear at the moment but we assume it is revenge. He does have a surprisingly large army and the turian militia currently on the planet is not equipped to handle this sort of attack."
"Where are the turians? Why haven't they deployed troops to protect the colony?"
"All communications have been intercepted. The only way we were able to find out about the attack was because of young quarian on his pilgrimage had managed to earn enough credit to his name and work with the turians on their defense systems; specifically, their early detection systems. He had brought the batarian ship to their attention but they brushed it off. He managed to get a message out to us, someone who he thought would listen, before he was reprimanded by those in charge on the planet."
"Huh, how does the turian militia feel about his work now?"
"It certainly does carry a little more weight. But it won't do any good if the batarians succeed in killing off the planet. I already sent the coordinates to you."
"Coordinates received. Plotting route. Going dark in one hour. Give our son my love."
"Of course. Be safe."
"Always do," he smiled as he fastened his helmet.
Jaer turned on the cloaking for his shipping as he came closer to the planet. Although there wasn't much information, he had been through enough situations to know how to deal with the unexpected. The planet came into view and with it the batarian's flagship. Several smaller fighter ships circled the large cruiser. Well… this should be interesting. His operation is a lot bigger than I thought. But I guess it would have to be to challenge a turian colony.
He began a slow approach to the planet, careful not to run his engines too strong to prevent any detection. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the fighters on a direct path with his ship. Cloaking a ship was a delicate science and he knew that if he moved too fast, it could flicker and give away his location. Easing into the controls he angled his ship down, holding his breath as the other ship closed in. Jaer's eyes stayed on the fighter as it came closer and closer, then he had to lift his head as he started to fly over his ship, missing it by what looked like mere inches. Letting out the breath, he focused his attention back onto the planet. He would have to deactivate the cloaking before he entered the atmosphere.
In the time that he waited, he studied the ship in the distance. It was an older cruiser, but still impressive for a warlord to have. Whoever it was, he had to be someone who had been in the game for quite a while. One who had a large force of loyal followers, which was saying something for batarians, and someone who was able to lay low between missions long enough to keep the heat off of himself. But how would someone like that be able to fund that kind of operation? Short of pulling off countless smaller jobs, the amount of larger heists would draw too much attention and no one is that good or lucky to get away with all of that. Unless… he had a large enough force to do all the heavy lifting. But how would anyone be able to keep that many people loyal in this galaxy?
Turning his attention back to the planet, Jaer put his hands over the throttle and the keys to deactivate the cloaking. He took in a deep breath. Exhaled. "Now or never," he whispered. Bringing down the ship's cloak, he punched the throttle. Almost immediately, his defense alarms went off and his ship shook with hits from a fighter. Jaer was already beginning to enter the atmosphere so he knew that he couldn't turn and fight, but at least the other ship couldn't target him during the descent.
A small part of him hoped they wouldn't follow, but he knew that he wouldn't be that lucky, he never was. Checking the radar, he saw that he had gathered a few more fans, four to be exact. His ship was almost out of the atmosphere, he would have to think quickly. Those ships were built for speed not firepower, but four could still do some damage if he wasn't careful. In the last few moments before all hell broke loose, he quickly redirected some of his power to the shields to help prepare. Not a second had passed after finishing boosting his shields when the first two hits tested his work, the movement rocking Jaer forward.
"Alright, let's test out your men," Jaer said to himself as he hit the thrusters into high gear and headed down to the planet. His sensors notified him to the enemies already closing in. Forcing the ship into a sharp turn, he managed to turn in time to lock onto two of his targets. He laid on the heavy fire as he continued to turn into them. Bullets rained themselves into his enemies, whittling away at the shields and finally breaking through the hull of one fighter. The ship on his left began to take a nose dive towards the ground below and the one on the right tried to bank to the side, hoping to escape its demise but the damage had been done; smoke began to flow heavily from the side and a few more seconds under the hail of bullets forced the ship into a fireball.
Jaer turned his weapons to the next targets but one had already evaded his field of vision, but he did manage to get enough damage to the last one to take out the shields and damage the belly. Both had flown out of view and were circling back by the time Jaer could start turning his ship to them again. He pushed the throttle forward and headed straight for them. One came back into view and began firing on him which he handed it right back. The percentage was going down on his shields but it wasn't much to worry about, until the second one made itself known. A rocket slammed into the side of his ship making his shield drop drastically and throwing him to the side slightly.
"Bosh'tet!" Jaer dipped down to drop below the fighter before him. And now they are both behind me again… He burned the engines high trying to get some distance between him and the fighters. The sounds of bullets echoed around him and occasionally vibrated his shield. Jaer moved from side to side, trying to stay out of the line of fire and evasive enough to keep a target lock off of him. I have to find the main colony. He sent an automated distress call, searching for anyone receiving. Keelah, ALL communications are down.
A high pitched beeping began to sound, indicating that his ship was target locked. His instincts kicked in, knowing that it would only be fractions of a second for the enemy to push the button to fire and a few more for the missile to hit him, taking out the last of his shields. At just the right moment, he jerked the controls to the side sending his ship into a barrel roll and rocket flying past him. Jaer pulled up, going completely vertical as if he were trying to punch through the atmosphere.
Both of his enemies were hot on his tail, coming closer and closer to him, their bullets whittling away at his shield. A few more seconds passed and he cut the engines. He seemed to hover for a few moments before dropping quickly back down to the planet. The two ships whizzed by him and he turn on his guns again, taking out one of the ships before dipping the nose of his ship and turning the engines back on to burn across the sky of the planet.
Jaer checked his scanner but couldn't find any trace of the other ship. "Where did they go?" he said to himself. He continued at his speed but decided to start scanning for the colony, hoping he wasn't on the wrong side of the planet. He checked again and couldn't find anything on the last fighter. Just as he was about to assume it had returned to the cruiser, his ship shook with an intense force and threw him upright from the rocket hitting his underside.
He gritted his teeth as he struggled to steady his ship. Another rocket came from above now and Jaer checked his ship's integrity, but he already knew the result: shields depleted, armor damaged; another one or two hits and he would be finished. He surged forward trying to outrun the ship close on his tail. Bullets ran along the side of his ship and he pursed his lips. His mind raced to figure out what else he could do; what other tricks he had up his sleeves.
Before he could decide, or even put anything into action, the ship moved in front of him, the rocket priming. Suddenly, it exploded before him and Jaer steered to avoid the fireball. He had just begun to wonder what had happened when a ship came alongside him; it was a turian single seated fighter. Jaer made eye contact with the turian who motioned for him to follow before easing in front of Jaer slightly. He slowed his speed and decided to follow the turian.
It wasn't too long before the turian ship began to descend and the colony came into view. It was a decently sized location, definitely not one of the shining examples of a turian colony.
When they came to the landing platform, Jaer saw many empty locations; it was obvious that they had suffered losses. Still, he took the spot next to his escort and began to power down. Opening the door he hopped down from the ship to be greeted by five turian soldiers.
"Impressive flying out there, quarian," the turian who was his escort said. He motioned to the side of Jaer's ship, "But it could have been better."
Jaer turned to look at the damage he had taken, "Yes, well, my expertise is not in flying. That would be my spouse's area."
"Then I guess you should have brought her along," he laughed. "Name is Quintus. Raej Quintus."
"Jaer'Coh vas Rayna."
Another turian spoke up, "One quarian? That's it? Where are the turian fleets? Or the Council fleets?"
"None of your messages went out," Jaer explained, "Baero'li was only able to get one message out and it reached us first because he knew that we would be closest and able to send help. Don't worry, we forwarded the distress call."
"And this is what the quarians could spare? One? Or did the rest of your fleet get killed?"
"Be happy that I was this close," Jaer was getting impatient with the turian. "What is your name soldier?"
"Drien Kravash."
"Leave it, Kravash," Quintus spoke up. "Head back to your post. All of you."
"You seem a little young to be in charge," Jaer turned back to Quintus as the rest of the turians walked away.
"Yeah, well that happens when the leaders before you all get killed." Quintus began to walk around Jaer's ship inspecting the damage more closely. "Could be worse. Kravash could be in charge," he grinned. "I'll have my crew start repairing your ship."
"Thank you." Jaer followed the turian then began to focus more on his ship. He ran a hand over the bullet holes. It had been a close call. If that fighter had any heavier guns, it could have cut through to the engine. "Why aren't you questioning me as much as your men?"
"I like to be a little more… open-minded than most. The galaxy is changing. One thing that you can't hold on to is time."
"That's the truth."
"So, why just you? Where is your team?"
"I work better alone. There wasn't much information for us. Going in blind would have spelled death for a lot of people. They have a much larger operation than I would have expected. Do you know the warlord?"
"His name is Chakar. He is looking for a planet to set up his base of operations. My best guess, it almost seems like he is trying to be the next upcoming Shadow Broker. And he has a good head start."
Jaer nodded. It was a little farfetched, but it wasn't the craziest thing he had heard. "Where does your defense stand?"
"It's not very good. We lost a lot of men in the first attack. Our communications were cut long before. No one would admit it, but we just barely made it out on top in that battle. I think if Chakar wanted to he could have wiped us out but I don't think he wanted to lose that many men. However, letting us live after that fight was his mistake. Now we are ready for him."
"Alright, fill me in on the rest of the situation and we'll make a plan. We'll give Chakar something to remember and it might buy us more time until help arrives," Jaer nodded to Quintus with a smirk on his face, despite the fact that the turian couldn't see it. If we even need the extra help, he thought.