Unharmonic Convergence
By Archer83 and Vergil1989 the Crossover King
Summary: They've faced it all. Revolutionists, religious zealots, anarchists, ancient dark spirits, and a slightly unhinged military leader bent on world domination. The Normandy SR-2 and her crew almost smashing into Aang's face before unceremoniously crashing into the bay? That's a new one. The citizens of Republic City just can't seem to get a break.
Disclaimer: We do not own Mass Effect or Legend of Korra. There, now that that's done we can get to the fun stuff.
Author's Notes: Archer83; This time I basically just thought to myself, gee, how cool would it be if the Normandy and her crew just crashed into Korra's world. Literally.
Vergil1989; Basically it's another of Archer's mad fever dreams that can be blamed for this one lol. Even so, it was a good idea, and I think thus far it's turned out pretty well.
Chapter 1: There's Something You Don't See Every Day
It started out as a typical day in Republic City, right up until the spirit portal in the center of what was once downtown flared brighter than it had ever done since it had originally appeared nearly a month ago. The masses turned from their busy day to glance up at the now familiar fixture of daily life in Republic City. It was hard not to, not after everything that had occurred in the last three years and a half.
If it wasn't a power mad dictator threatening to demolish the city with a gigantic mecha suit, it was a dark spirit from ancient times. If it wasn't that, it was an equally crazy leader of an anti-bending revolution. Whatever new threat popped up, the average citizen was all too eager to head the other way. Today was no different as thousands of people, benders and non benders alike, ran as far as they were able as the portal flared blindingly bright before disgorging... something.
Meanwhile In The Spirit World, Five Minutes Earlier...
Korra gave a satisfied sigh, laying under a spirit tree, next to a languidly smiling Asami Sato. She returned the smile, running a hand through her raven black hair, meeting her gray-green eyes. "So, what are you thinking?" Korra asked, her smile turning into a playful smirk.
Asami chuckled warmly before taking Korra's hand and bringing it to her lips. "What a great idea this was... I haven't felt this relaxed in years."
"I know what you mean, and I can't tell you how happy I was finally able to share all of this..." Korra gestured to the peaceful, forested rolling green hills all around them. The spirits themselves had given them space, but Korra's blue eyes could still pick out a few curious eyes among the bushes and trees around them. She didn't mind since they were harmless, and were just curious, innocent observers at most. Ignoring them completely, Korra pushed herself up on her side, her gaze never leaving Asami's beautiful pale face. "...With someone special."
"Well, Mako and Bolin are pretty special too, and they already got to see all of this with you." Asami teased as she sat up as well.
"We were a little more busy with trying to save the world then. We didn't have much time for sightseeing Asami." Korra quipped in response even as a minute shudder passed through her muscular frame. Trying to stop Vaatu and her uncle, Unalaq, had not been an easy fight. She immediately forgot about it when Asami wrapped her arms around her waist and rested her head against her right shoulder.
"You do now. And you have me to protect you." Asami whispered, holding Korra tightly against her.
"I feel safer already..." Korra nervously squeaked, feeling a familiar warmth in her cheeks. Only Asami managed to unravel her so effortlessly, and she wouldn't have had it any other way.
Asami's gaze took on a predatory gleam as she slowly leaned in closer, feeling Korra's warm, rapid breaths against her neck. "You'll always be safe with me, you know that right?"
"Asami..." Korra managed to say, forcing herself to calm down as much as she could even as their eyes met once more. It was impossible not to get lost in the CEO's deep, green gaze. "I think I-"
Asami gently traced a finger over Korra's trembling lips. "Shh, we don't need to rush into anything. Just being here, with you, is enough for me. For now." She teased, but brushed a hand along Korra's caramel cheek before kissing her forehead. "I do...want us to be together, but only when you're ready."
"How did I get so lucky?" Korra asked herself in utter disbelief.
"I was going to ask the same thing." Asami replied. "But looking back now, I don't think it was luck at all..."
Korra's smile slowly turned into a small grin as she recalled how Asami had entered their lives in the first place. "What about almost running over Mako on your scooter?"
"Well, maybe there was a little luck was involved." Asami admitted with a giggle that sent pleasant shivers down Korra's spine. "Then there was that kiss between you and him-"
"He was the first guy I had met outside the compound." Korra shot back, flustered as her cheeks turned beet red. "I had no idea what I was doing in those days."
Asami decided to take pity on the flustered Avatar, and instead turned the conversation elsewhere. "So what did it feel like? Your first kiss I mean."
"It was... nice." Asami cocked an incredulous eyebrow. "Fine, it was amazing, everything I dreamed it would be. Although….looking back, I realize I really don't have a lot to compare it to." Mako had been her first and last person she'd kissed if she was being completely honest.
"Hmm, well there's an easy fix for that problem. You just need more experience... How would you like to find out what kissing a girl feels like?"
"Um... is that a question or an off-" Korra's eye widened, gleaming with a mixture of excitement and just a bit of terror as Asami gently pressed her lips against Korra's blushing face. After the moment had past Korra seemed to have lost her power of speech as she wordlessly gulped for air.
"So, how was it?" Asami asked quietly.
"Better than amazing..." Korra whispered, her big blue eyes shining intensely from what had just passed between them.
Suddenly a massive gust of air swept over the pair and Korra felt her natural instincts kicking in, momentarily wondering if perhaps another Airbender was attacking them, as she jumped to her feet. When her eyes saw nothing, even as she summoned fire to her hands, the Avatar breathed a little easier once she realized they weren't in danger before closing her hands and letting her powers sink back into her skin. "Guess it was a giant spirit passing overhead." A confused Korra stated before looking over her shoulder at Asami. "Guess that killed the mood huh?" She said, and let a heavy sigh escape her when the realization hit.
"It's alright, we'll pick it up later." Asami promised and smiled reassuringly up at Korra before standing to her feet. "We have all the time in the world."
Back In The Mortal World...
"Mama, what's that?!" A small girl cried out, gripping her mother's wrist as the woman turned from haggling with a greedy fish vender to stare in dumbstruck awe at the large metallic object racing over the rooftops of the city. The older woman followed the object's progress until it clipped part of a roof, her brown eyes wide with terror as it shredded the masonry and sent it crashing down to street level, scattering the civilians below like a flock of frightened turtle ducks.
Soon the entire city echoed with excited and terrified shouts of alarm, rising up around them like a audible firestorm as the populous stood and watched. Every man, woman, and child were utterly captivated by the sight of an enormous odd vessel, its swan-pelican like hull a mix of gray, blue and black. Belching flames and smoke from behind it, it plowed its way through a wharf at the edge of the docks, before regaining altitude and nearly clipping the Aang Memorial Island statue, finally crashing into the bay near Air Temple Island.
Not all who watched this strange event that day were numbly transfixed, instead acting without hesitation. Namely, the Air Nomads who called the nearby island home. They had dedicated their lives to assisting everyone in need of there help. A ship crashing into the sea barely a mile from their home certainly qualified.
"What was that noise?" Master Tenzin asked with a huff of irritation. How was anyone supposed to be able to teach a meditation class with constant interruptions?
"Sounded like a airship smashing into the bay to me..."
"Don't be ridiculous Bumi!" Kya retorted and crossed her arms over her chest. Her scowl disappeared however when she smelled something filtering through a nearby window. "Wait... is that smoke?"
"Outside!" Bumi shouted after he ran over to the window and pointed to the crash site. "I told you! Something crashed into the water and you didn't believe me, like usual!"
Tenzin was already on the move. "We don't have time for this! Tell the others what's happened, I'm going to see if I can give them any assistance." His gaze fell on a handful of his students before he gestured to them. "You four, with me. If meditation was too boring for you than maybe a hands on field trip is in order." They didn't need much encouragement to follow the master Airbender.
But one pair of Air Nomads were already on the move, having started towards the vessel the moment the portal disgorged it. "Did you see that?! Whoever was flying that thing is either really brave or really stupid. I'm going to see if I can help them!" Kai shouted out to his friend Jinora before the young pair of experienced Sky Rangers circled the downed vessel in their glider suits.
"We should really wait for the others!" Jinora cautioned, even as she followed after the former thief. There wasn't a lot of time for anyone that might still be alive, not if the vessel sunk beneath the waves and the ocean rushed in, drowning them all. Despite her words, Jinora had already decided to try and save as many as she could, her father would expect nothing less of her.
"There!" Thinking along the same lines, Kai pointed to a damaged hatch on the outside of the ship before he angled himself to land as close to it as possible. "Who purposely lands an airship in the middle of the ocean?!"
"Someone who didn't want to crash right into the downtown Spirit Wilds." Sighing, Jinora frowned and aimed for a gentle landing right behind Kai. Closing her eyes for a moment, Jinora took a breath before snapping her gaze up. "Just so you know, when dad asks what we were thinking, I'm blaming you."
"But you followed me! Sure, blame everything on the street rat, haven't heard that one before. Probably get blamed for crashing the ship somehow while I'm at it." Kai snarked before positioning himself on the other side of the damaged outer hatch. "Ready?"
"On three." Jinora replied with a determined nod before raising her hands. They started to manipulate the air around them, focusing it, bending it to their will as they moved as one in a precise and graceful dance before throwing their hands away from the hatch. When they did, a powerful gust of wind slammed into the damaged hatch, blowing it away and into the slowly calming water with a loud splash.
The moment they did, a voice came from a nearby speaker in the upper right corner of the inner chamber seemingly talking to itself. "Son of a bit- you gotta be kidding me?! Outer airlock hatch is, well, uh gone. Hey, look on the bright side, at least we don't have to worry about ten minute decon scans now. Always hated that damn thing." The two airbenders shared a look before the unseen speaker finally seemed to notice them. "Ya might want to identify yourselves immediately or my girlfriend will be forced to use lethal force. You have twenty seconds to comply. Then again, she might shoot you both anyway since you just tore the damn hatch off its track. She's finicky about her complexion that way."
"Th-that won't be necessary! We're here to help you….uh, whatever you are." Jinora stammered out. "My name is Jinora. And this is my friend Kai." She said slowly gesturing to him as not to alarm or anger whatever was threatening them further. "We're peaceful Air Nomads." Technically speaking, that was the truth since they were Sky Rangers second.
"Actually we're Sky Rangers." Kai said before Jinora could slam her elbow into his stomach to silence him.
"Sheesh, this kid full of himself or what? Uh huh. Good for you Mr. Sky Ranger. Crashed into a city of weird flying little people, that's just great..." The pair looked at each other in confusion as the voice gave an annoyed sigh. "Yes EDI, I know they're just kids... wait has the mic been on the whole time? Well why didn't you tell me?! ... Very funny. Just don't move you two..."
"Not gonna lie. I'd find this really strange before I joined up with you and your folks Jinora." Kai muttered under his breath, only to see that she had quietly sat down on the metal deck, her legs folded neatly under her and her hands clasped over her stomach. Kai knew what she was doing, but that didn't stop him from muttering a sarcastic retort. "And now I'm talking to myself."
Another voice filtered over the speaker, this one decidedly far more intimidating than the guy that had been speaking beforehand. "No Liara, I will not go lay down, give it a rest. Joker... ask him what his friend is doing, I don't like it..."
"Good one Commander. So what's wrong with your girlfriend Sky Guy? She just pass out on the spot or what?"
"She seems to be a practitioner of some form of belief in spiritual enlightenment and transcendence if I were to take a guess, given the meditative position she has settled into. The relaxed, slow even breathing is also indicative of this." This new calm voice sounded much more curious than suspicious, even if Kai suddenly felt like he and Jinora were being watched like a flea-mites under a magnifying glass.
"Uh….something like that." Kai stuttered, and did his best to appear as nonchalant as he could while Jinora was busy, doing more than simply meditating.
"I wonder if you would mind answering a few questions for me while my companions try to muscle the inner airlock door open with brute strength instead of anything remotely resembling logic."
"Breaking stuff is more fun than using a puny brain." A much deeper voice, that sounded like it was coming from two rocks rolling down a mountainside, said.
"Wait, did Grunt just admit he's not the smartest member of his very intellectual species?"
"Just stop talking Joker, and Liara, stop making the kid feel like a laboratory experiment." The first woman stated, amused despite her chastising tone.
Meanwhile, Jinora had decided to look around the inside ship by projecting her spirit out of her body. Only another spiritually aware person could hope to see her now, unless she chose to reveal herself. Either way, what she saw on the other side of the first door had her riveted to the spot.
"Raahh! Open stupid door!" Jinora's only response at seeing the massive talking reptile roaring in her face was about what anyone would expect. She screamed. And soon found Kai shaking her, his eyes full of worry.
"What the... I think you woke her up Grunt, and I think my ears are bleeding, great job buddy."
Kai hardly heard the assorted voices as he put a hand on Jinora's trembling shoulder. "Jinora! What happened, are you okay? What did you see?"
"Mm-monster. I told you we should have waited!" Jinora stammered out, her eyes as wide as saucers at what she'd seen on the other side of the door.
"Ah crap...he heard that didn't he?"
"Grunt, as your Battlemaster I order you to-"
"Monster?! MONSTER?!" The reptile roared after punching a hole through the door. Kai understood why Jinora was so scared when the giant creature tore the door to pieces, making the hole bigger in a matter of seconds, big enough to admit his wide girth. "I am KROGAN! I'll show you a monster!" Just as the scaley humpbacked behemoth took a step towards the cowering pair, arcs of blue energy spread over its armor, and the beast fell to the deck in a smoking heap.
"Or not... thanks for the save Kasumi. I wasn't really up to bending Grunt over my knee right now."
"You got it Shep. Nighty night Grunt." Kai could only stare in frightened awe as a woman appeared out of thin air and gently patted the loudly snoring reptile on the head. "Sorry if he frightened you, don't take it personally, he has that effect on everyone. But he's harmless, once you get on his good side. Name's Kasumi Goto, master thief, and if you're really here to help, well, I'd be pretty grateful, but that's just me talking." The hooded woman glanced from her smoking companion to the huddled pair. "And you aren't listening to a word I'm saying are you?"
"Can you blame them Kasumi? You're not exactly the type to inspire feelings of trust. That dark hood of yours makes you look like a Sith acrobat." They couldn't see the source of the voice, but they started to relax, albeit slightly, as the unseen speaker continued his playful tirade. "Just sayin', you could do with a wardrobe change. But then I guess you'd have to give up your chronic kleptomania. Maybe join an exrotic circus? Put that flexibility to good use."
"Enough Joker. Kasumi, why is Grunt smoking? Nevermind, he can sleep it off." Jinora and Kai couldn't help tensing up as a heavily armored woman exited the ship and stood next to her hooded friend in front of the damaged hatchway. "Kids? Shepard's just gonna love it when she hears Grunt scared a couple of kids."
"Grunt scares kids, it's what he does. But you're right Ash, I am going to have a talk with him, preferably when we aren't about to drown." The first female voice grunted from beyond the door before they saw her. Kai and Jinora had expected injured among the crash survivors, but this woman looked like she'd been through an octo-shark attack.
Supported by an exotic, blue skinned woman, Kai and Jinora could only stare at the battered woman. Her right arm was a mangled bloody mess, her strange armor was burned black and riddled full of holes, with whole sections missing, exposing her burnt and bleeding skin.
"I don't think you're helping Shep." The hooded woman quipped as she knelt on one knee in front of Kai and Jinora. "See, we're harmless….more or less." The thief said as she held up her hands and smiled warmly down at the pair. "You're kinda cute actually." The woman's half hidden almond eyes flicked to Jinora as she grasped at Kai's arm. "I can see why she likes you."
The armored woman nodded, smirking as Kai positioned himself between Jinora and the women. "He's a keeper kid. Just make sure you show him who's in charge once in a while."
"Ash, stop giving the teenagers free relationship advice. Not unless you stop screwing around with Vega and just seal the deal already." Kai was surprised to see a rosy blush on the otherwise formidable looking woman's face. But he didn't get to ponder it for long when a shadow fell over them above.
"Kai, Jinora! Thank heavens you're alright." Tenzin said with a sigh of relief as he and the four Sky Rangers behind him gracefully landed on the half submerged bow of the ship. His thoughts were derailed however when he caught sight of the occupants of the vessel. "Uh, hello..." He managed to say, his gaze sweeping over the growing group of strange and exotic people before lingering on a clearly injured woman and her companion, the blue skinned woman that was physically supporting her. "Uh...my apologies. My name is Master Tenzin, and it's pretty clear you're in dire need of assistance. We came to render aid."
"I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, not after what we just went through. I'm Commander Elizabeth Shepard, Systems Alliance. The sinking wreck you're standing on is my ship."
Tenzin glanced down at the side of the half submerged ship with a nod. While most of the white letters on the side were burned off, he was able to make out enough of it to get the gist of the vessel's name, or so he thought. "Mandy, a fine name for a fine vessel, but you can tell us more of how you arrived here once we've gotten you and your people to safety. How would you like us to proceed?" Tenzin asked as diplomatically as he could.
"A man of action, I can get behind that." Shepard, gritting her teeth in annoyance for some reason, replied with a nod of her head. "Alright, for starters you can get my people out of here. Then send word to whatever passes for medical help around here, and that'll be enough for now. The rest I'll worry about once I'm sure my people aren't in any immediate danger."
"Alright, Kai, head back to the island and round up everyone you can. If I know Bumi and Kya, they should be forming a rescue effort as I speak. Clear a space for wounded in the Temple healing chamber. Jinora, go help in rounding up the sky bisons. We're going to need every last one of them to transport these people quickly. And someone get my mother….have her to treat for the most critically injured. Starting with the Commander." Shepard looked ready to protest as Jinora and Kai immediately took off while his retinue of Sky Rangers remained. Tenzin held up a hand to forestall the injured woman before she could open her mouth. "Don't bother trying to argue with me, far more patient men and women have tried and failed. We'll do our best to keep the vessel from sinking as long as we can while my daughter brings back help."
Knowing a lost cause when she saw one, Shepard sighed but decided to play along, at least for the moment. "Ash, get everyone out of the lower decks and into the CIC. Tenzin, after seeing those two tear our front door off without laying a hand on it, I'm willing to suspend my doubts for a while. Do what you can. Oh, and if you don't mind, I'm gonna pass out now."
"Ah... feel free." Tenzin said with a concerned frown as Shepard nodded and promptly went slack in the blue woman's arms. "May my fellow Rangers and I assist with getting the wounded out of danger?" Despite having the Commander's blessing, Tenzin wasn't about to move before he was certain he and his fellow Nomads and Rangers wouldn't be impeded, or worse.
For the first time, the blue skinned woman, Liara, spoke, her voice oddly pleasant and soothing to the ears even if her gaze contained a hint of coldness that he had only seen a handful of times. "I know Elizabeth will never forgive me for giving you access to the Normandy, but losing anyone would be far worse. Very well, but be careful, the engineering and crew decks are badly damaged, and the shuttle bay is already flooding."
"Ghana, Naomi, start redirecting the incoming water from outside as best you can, keeping this ship above water until we've rescued her crew is now your number one priority. The moment the others arrive, get back in here and help us get these people out. Fenn and Jevon will help me assist the wounded." The four Rangers nodded before two made their way to the top of the vessel. Tenzin immediately followed in their wake, his hands going to the heavy bag on his hip where he kept a basic first aid kit handy. After the attack by Zaheer three years ago, he hadn't gone anywhere without it.
"What the... nice robe." A bearded man stationed at the front of the ship sarcastically muttered as Tenzin ignored him and proceeded aft with his rangers and the woman called Ash. He couldn't help noticing the strange metallic looking woman sitting next to him though, appearing to have some sort of injury to her neck, nor did he miss the fact that said injury was sparking with energy instead of bleeding. "Hey, cue ball, stop staring at my girlfriend or I'll give you a close up view of my fist." The man sighed as the woman gestured to a small screen in front of him. "Yes, I know that would break every bone in my hand... but you're totally worth it."
Choosing to move on instead of even attempting to figure the extremely odd couple, Tenzin turned his full attention on the heavily armored woman in front of him. For a moment, he couldn't shake the feeling he was looking at Lin Beifong, the way she carried herself. "How bad is the flooding, can you give me a rough idea of how much time we have?"
"An hour, two tops sir." Ash replied simply and to the point.
The impression he was dealing with someone very much like Lin only increased with that simple statement. "Oh, that's reasonable. How many people are aboard this….vessel?" Tenzin asked, not knowing what else to call the odd craft.
"Roughly three dozen at last count." She stated bluntly once more.
Tenzin also got the impression she wasn't someone he wanted to antagonize, not if he wanted to keep breathing. Still, there was a crisis at hand, and they didn't have much time. "I'd like to search the 'shuttle bay' first, we must save the trapped and injured before they drown.
"We're working on that. The crawl spaces are damaged, so that's a no go sir, but we're cutting through the elevator to use the shaft as an emergency evac point." It was the most she'd said yet, and it took Tenzin by surprise, even if he didn't understand everything she had fired off.
"Oh, I have no idea what that means, but it sounds like you have everything pretty well in hand then."
"It's what we do. Still, thanks for showing up as quickly as you did sir." She replied with a quick nod of thanks.
"Please, call me Tenzin. And you have no need to thank me or my people for going what is right. Umm, would you excuse me please?" Tenzin gently tapped on the shoulders of the workers frantically cutting out the bottom of a small chamber. With a nod from Ash, they quickly moved out of the way, staring at Tenzin's waving arms as air currents began to swirl around him. With a grinding screech of metal, the floor gave way and Tenzin gently floated it out of the way before he set it down with a quiet clang.
"What the hell!" Ash exclaimed as the cutting crew stumbled to get clear. "Never seen that trick before..."
"I live to serve." Tenzin said with a wry grin and cocked his head to the side as he heard the familiar sound of a tornado picking up outside. "Sounds like they've gotten the wind storm started. It should buy us some time. Fenn, Jevon, you search the deck below, Ash and I will take the lowest decks." With a nod of approval, he jumped down into the long narrow shaft without another word, slowing his descent until he landed in the waist high cold water at the bottom.
"This day just keeps getting stranger even for us." Ashley deadpanned, but shrugged it off as she jumped down and landed in a crouch next to the Airbender master. "This way si- Tenzin." She gestured and led the way forward through the deck. "So….I take it that's normal, the whole wavy arm thing?"
Tenzin's eye twitched, but he cleared his throat before he spoke anew. "Very. I take it you've never seen an Airbender in person?"
"Airbender?" Ash glanced towards the 'Airbender' with a cocked eyebrow.
"I'll take that as a no." Tenzin replied with an amused smirk, despite the bone chillingly cold water rushing in around them.
"Hey! Williams! Over here!" Tenzin waded after the woman as she dashed towards a man that had been caught under some sort of weighted bars. "My weight set turned loco and decided to try and kill me." Was his amused explanation, even though it looked all too true at that moment.
"I told you overdoing it on the biceps would kill you Vega." Ashley replied, smirking as she crossed her arms under her chest.
"Ha ha. Very funny, just get me loose would ya?" Vega muttered even as the corner of his mouth pulled up into a grin.
"I don't know, I might have to take a picture first." Tenzin rolled his eyes at Ash's poor sense of humor and quickly lifted the weights off of the huge, muscular man before she could do anything of the sort.
"There, are you injured my friend?" Tenzin asked as Vega shook his head and headed towards the other side of the bay.
"Other than my ego, no. Come on Viento, I'm pretty sure the others all made it out, but Steve's stuck in the shuttle. That and I'm pretty sure Tali's not budging out of engineering. Girl's crazier than Lola on a bad day." Vega said before falling in step with Ashley and Tenzin. It didn't take long for them to hear the rhythmic thudding against the hull of a small craft lodged against the side of the vessel. "Steve's omni-tool must be shot if he's desperate enough to use Morse. Clever bastard, gotta give him that. The hatch is jammed, we're gonna need to blow it from the outside."
"We've got this, explosives is sort of our thing." Ashley muttered as she saw Tenzin eyeing the sealed hatch.
"Very well, I take it engineering is above us? I'll go and find this Tali for you and get her to safety." Tenzin offered with a solemn nod, turning towards the elevator shaft. He had a suspicious feeling about the rapid flash of light behind him as he turned to leave, but merely sighed and let it go.
"Good luck, you're gonna need it Viento." Vega warned him with a grinning shake of his head.
"Right, I'm sure I'll be able to make her see reason." Both Vega and Ash shook their heads at that comment while Tenzin frowned and headed for the shaft. Quickly ascending to the next deck, he was distracted by the sight of a half clothed woman, utterly covered in tattoos, assisting an older armored man to the ladder in the shaft.
"What the hell are you lookin' at?" The tattooed woman growled before turning to her companion. "Come on Massani, I'm not carrying your damn ass up three decks."
"You certainly found my guddamn room easy enough." The armored man snarked with a massive grin.
Tenzin paused to get their attention, almost wishing he hadn't when they both turned to glare at him. "Um, excuse me, have either of you seen a woman named Tali?"
"The crazy quarian princess? Yeah, she's back there. Now get outta my way old man." The tattooed woman told him with a jerk of a thumb over her shoulder.
Tenkin nodded, wary of these two already. "Thank you for your assistance."
"Bugger off." Muttered the scarred and bleeding older man, his blue and yellow eyes reminding Tenzin of a particularly rude spirit spider.
Ignoring the crude pair as best he could, Tenzin focused his efforts on finding this 'crazy' woman everyone was talking about and headed towards the jammed open door. "Tali. Tali! My name is Tenzin, I'm here to help you!"
"She's back here." An older gray haired woman said when he came to the end of the hall. "I fear you've come at a bad time. So you're the dashing hero, Tenzin I presume?" Tenzin breathed a little easier when the gray haired woman held out her hand, which he shook. Finally, someone with some manners and a shred of common decency. "Doctor Karin Chakwas, I received word of your arrival some time ago from Lieutenant Commander Williams. Let me be the first to thank you for your assistance."
"What's wrong? Is she trapped, wounded?" Tenzin worriedly asked, mentally preparing himself to use his more fine tuned skills needed for such a situation.
Karin shook her head and waved his concerns aside. "I fear it's a bit worse than that. She thinks she can save the Normandy, but as you've no doubt seen for yourself, there's not much that can be done."
"Ah. I see. May I?" Tenzin gestured to the open area behind the woman.
"Be my guest, but I would advise caution. Tali is the most gifted, compassionate person I've ever known, but she can also be very dangerous if she feels threatened. And as you are no doubt unaware, to her this ship is her home, more so than it is for the rest of us. Call it a cornerstone of her people's culture, to make a very long story short."
"I see, so trying to remove her will no doubt earn her considerable wrath." Tenzin knowingly stated, feeling a pang of sympathy for this Tali. Losing one's home was never easy, no matter the situation involved.
Chakwas frowned and lightly grabbed Tenzin's shoulder before letting him go. "That very well may be the case I'm afraid."
"In that case, I will be as understanding and delicate as possible." With a nod, Tenzin headed into the compartment, only to see a small, suited woman with odd lower limbs frantically working on some kind of device attached to the wall. "Um, excuse me-"
He never got a chance to finish. "I heard you talking with Dr. Chakwas, whoever you are, and you can forget it. I'm not leaving until I get the Normandy back up and running, or at the very least on dry land."
Tenzin sighed, recognizing the tone in her voice since it was one he had heard three times over already for many years. It was the sound of a child refusing to listen to reason, something he was overly familiar with. "Then I'm sorry, but you leave me no choice." With that, Tenzin went through the motions of shaping a ball of air around the young woman, levitating her off the ground.
Flailing uselessly against the confines of her new prison, Tali did her best to glare at the master airbender through the sphere of moving air currents. "Keelah! What the- What are you doing?! Put me down right now you bosh'tet! I have to save the Normandy!"
Tenzin calmly levitated the ball out of the room and down the hall with Karin not two steps behind him. "Shh, shh, it's alright. I'm sure you tried your very best to help your friends. Absolutely none of this is your fault."
Tali was frantically pounding on the inside of the sphere of air now, desperate to get free. "Please! Just-just give me five more minutes, that's all I need! I swear! If I can't get the Normandy's thrusters online by then, I'll leave. I promise."
Tenzin wasn't surprised at her desperate, imploring tone, if anything he had expected it. "I'm sorry Tali. I promised I would see you to safety, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."
"So much for being delicate." Karin mused quietly, her gaze riveted to the ball of air before remembering what she'd been trying to do. "The ship is going down Tali. I know, believe me, I know what you're going through, but there's nothing we can do. We have to take care of the crew first, and I'm not about to let you die here for nothing." Karin adamantly stated, even as she tried to reach through the sphere and put a comforting hand on Tali's arm, only to be stopped by the almost solid mass of air that separated her and the quarian. "Hmm, how interesting."
"Please don't do that, it's hard enough to concentrate as it is." Tenzin wasn't happy to see water already pouring into the engineering deck as they reached the elevator shaft. He was however happy to see that the tatooed woman and her crude friend had made it to the top of the shaft with Vega, Ash, and who he presumed to be 'Steve' right behind them. "Up you go young lady." With a powerful shove, Tenzin sent the suited girl into the waiting arms of her friends before the air bubble around her dissipated a moment later. Turning to Chakwas, Tenzin asked, "Is that everyone from this deck?"
"Yes, if your people have gotten everyone else out of the Normandy. I'll have to grab as many of my medical supplies as I can before we leave, but that shouldn't take too long with some help. And if I know Shepard, she'll want us to grab everything we can salvage now, in case we're here longer than anticipated."
Tenzin nodded at the woman's subtle understatement. "Of course. I'll ask my people to help you with that immediately."
"Hey! You guys better get movin'!" Vega yelled down from the top of the shaft as he kept a tight grip on Tali's shoulders for fear of her climbing back down the ladder into a now half flooded engineering deck. "And you Sparky, need to cool it." Vega stated before pinning her against the wall. "We'll get the old girl back, but we need to take care of our own first. Shepard was mincemeat last I saw, you want her givin' in, keelin' over because we let you get yourself killed because of stupid pride?" Tali gasped and immediately slumped in Vega's strong grasp. He wrapped an arm around her waist and gently patted the back of her covered head. "I don't want to abandon the Normandy any more than you do, but we don't have a choice right now. Don't worry, you know how Lola is, she'll find a way to get her back."
"If we're done with the guddamn love fest, I could use a hand with these bloody ammo crates." Zaeed growled, managing to drag a huge crate behind him with only one good arm.
Tenzin had since helped Karin up the ladder before flying up the shaft himself. "Just so you are all aware, even with my people's efforts, we don't have much time before this vessel sinks. I'd suggest food and medical supplies be a priority."
Zaeed gave Tenzin a strange gesture he didn't recognize, but the implication was clear enough. "And I suggest you fuck off. I don't go anywhere without enough ammo to level a small city. It's practically my guddamn motto, if I had a motto that is."
"We're a peaceful society of nomadic, spiritually attuned people. Violence is not our way." Tenzin countered, not liking the idea of allowing the man to bring such destructive items to the island.
"Well it's our bloody way baldy, now if you'll excuse me." Zaeed grumbled and roughly shoved Tenzin aside. "Guddamn monk tries to tell me what to do."
"You get used to him." Vega reassured him as he gently guided Tali behind the grumpy mercenary.
"Really? Because I still have this strong urge to knock him out every time he opens his mouth." Ash retorted as she watched Vega shepherding Tali towards the forward airlock.
"Wait!" Tali struggled for a moment before sighing and pointing towards a stack of emergency ration crates. "At least let me be useful!" She protested and shrugged out of Vega's grasp.
"Alright, but I'm not taking my eye off you." The gentle giant of a man told her as he hefted two of the large crates in both arms while she struggled to lift one on her own.
"Need a little help with that lass, or are you gonna sic your little she-demon drone on me again? Not that I minded that much, or this..." A man with a rather thick accent muttered as he pointed to his black eye. "But, I canna believe you zapped Gabby! You better watch yourself."
A petite redhead nearby took that moment to jab her elbow into the wincing man's side. "Ken, it barely stung, you got thrown across the deck. After she warned you for the fourth time. Adams was the smart one, he just frowned and backed away. Slowly."
"Well, I was nah gonna leave a fellow engineer behind, even if she happens to be a crazed killer woman with a bloody psychotic pet."
"I am right here you know." Tali stopped and looked at Tenzin for a moment before looking at Kenneth and Gabby, her glowing silver eyes behind her purple tinted visor downcast. "I...apologize for my behavior. Logically I already knew I couldn't save the Normandy, but-"
"We don't blame ya lass, but we coulda no just leave ya behind. Even if ya are crazier than a bag of cats in heat."
"You are a very, very strange man..." Returning his gaze to Tali, Tenzin merely held up a hand and smiled, stopping the 'quarian' in her tracks when she looked his way next. "You don't have to explain yourself, but time is of the essence. For now, let's help your friends Tali." With a nod, the younger woman quickly made her way to the front of the vessel after getting an encouraging nudge from Vega as he followed after her.
As Tenzin helped them gather anything that wasn't nailed down, levitating whatever crates and boxes the others hadn't already picked up, he noticed the tornado outside had since died down. That meant the others had arrived, and were no doubt offloading the crew. He just hoped everything would go smoothly from here on out.
"What the shit?!" Joker, the man he had seen on the way inside the vessel, shouted just as the master airbender approached behind Vega, Tali, and several other crew members.
"It's alright Jeff, I highly doubt they pose any danger." The metallic woman said before nodding towards the front window.
"I think they're rather beautiful." Liara said, even straining under Shepard's weight as she was. "Would someone- thank you Ash." The asari breathed a little easier after Ashley ran to her side, slinging one of Shepard's arms over her shoulders.
"I'm going to guess that since none of you have ever heard of Airbenders, sky bison might seem a bit strange." Tenzin quipped, spotting a large herd approaching through the viewports. He was amazed that Jinora and the others had managed to find that many in such a limited amount of time. "You don't seem to be taking this as well a your friends if you don't mind me saying so."
"Ya think?" The bearded man in front of him, predictably or so Tenzin was coming to figure out, had a sarcastic comment ready. "Well let's see, there's a giant herd of flying….furry things outside. I've seen someone fly around on a cushion of air and oh, weird kids that can rip a damn airlock off. Not to mention those freaky arrow tattoos of yours. You tell me."
"Freaky?" Tenzin asked, looking between the sarcastic pilot and his metallic friend with a slightly hurt and offended expression.
"Coming from Jeff, that is a compliment." The metal woman replied with a just noticeable amused look on her face.
"Let's just get everyone on the bison..." An exasperated Tenzin muttered as he focused on getting the hovering supplies out onto the open deck, where Jinora, Kai, and several Nomads and Rangers alike were waiting to receive them. The Metal Bending RCPD had also arrived, led by Lin Beifong as several airships hovered on the edge of the island. "Lin." Tenzin greeted the severe looking woman.
"Tenzin. Mind explaining what's going on? And why this ship almost took out half the city and Aang's statue?"
"Hey! It was in our way!" The ship's pilot growled defensively. "As for your stupid city, trust me, if I have wanted to give it a facelift by smashing a few of those butt ugly buildings, I could have."
Lin's left eye twitched but before she could do anything, Tenzin put himself between her and the pilot. "Once we get everyone out of here, I'm sure we'll get the whole story. For now... just don't arrest anyone yet. Please?"
"Don't tell me how to do my job." Lin said, snatching the front of Tenzin's robes before she noticed several pairs of eyes watching them.
"I smell trouble in paradise." Joker muttered into EDI's ear, not quite quiet enough when Lin turned her furious gaze on him. "Just sayin' scar face. Nice armor, how much did- yaaahhh! Not the hat!" Joker protested as a metal spike attached to a metallic cord shot out of Lin's left gauntlet, impaling his precious hat into the wall behind him. "That's it, you are so off the christmas present list lady!"
"Joker, shut up and get out of the way." Ashley growled, lifting a heavy crate once Vega took her place in helping Liara carry Shepard before locking gazes with the chief of police. "And you... nice shot. Thanks for not breaking every bone in his snarky ass, god knows I've been tempted once or twice."
"He opens his mouth again and I might be so nice. Let's get you out of here. Then you can explain to me what the Hell is going on." Lin said, looking between Tenzin and Ashley before looking to the top of the ship, where a flurry of activity was taking place.
The three of them walked out into the open air and sunlight only to see carefully controlled chaos all around them. The entire remaining unsubmerged surface of the vessel was now packed with crewmembers, supplies and hovering sky bison. Jinora, Kai, and many of the Nomads were on the backs of the bison, guiding them to and from the island with people and supplies. Lin and her metal benders aided the process, manipulating anything metallic with far more ease than Tenzin and his airbending could ever achieve.
"Now THIS is what I call a rescue mission!" Bumi exclaimed, throwing his arms up over his head from the back of Jinora's bison. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, and whatever that lizard thing is... form an orderly line and we'll get you folks off this ship in time for dinner!" Bumi loudly boasted as he hopped off the sky bison and 'took charge' of the situation.
"And I thought Shepard had a flair for the dramatic." Tenzin heard a tall, mandibled creature dryly comment in a strange, dual toned voice.
The Master Airbender turned to the strange man with a wary frown. "That...is my annoying older brother. Just try to ignore him, if that's even possible. I apologize in advance for the multiple times he's going to somehow offend you and your friends."
"At least he's harmless." The mandibled creature asked, dripping dry sarcasm with every word.
"If only." Tenzin replied with a sigh.
"Hmm, and suddenly Sol doesn't seem that bad..."
Not bothering to ask who this 'Sol' person was, Tenzin kept a close eye on everything, taking pride in the organized chaos around him, and how well his students had fared under pressure. Even Bumi managed not to be an annoyance for once as he made a point of directing the ship's crew to the nearest landing bison and reassuring those waiting behind them. It made his heart swell to know they had come so far, but then again, they had all come a long way since Korra first arrived in Republic City.
Tenzin's eyes widened for a moment at the thought of having to explain the monumentally unique event to his star pupil. "Too bad Korra's still on her spirit walk with Asami. She would have loved this."
"Friend of yours?" He turned around and saw that Shepard had woken up from her impromptu nap.
"I think of Avatar Korra as more than just a mere friend. If you stay with us long enough, you'll likely meet her." Tenzin stated, unable to keep the pride from his voice.
"Given the pride in your voice, you helped shape her into who she is now." Tenzin stopped in mid step just as Lin gave the battered and bleeding woman an appraising look. "That answers that question."
"She's good." Lin stated, slightly impressed by the keen observation.
"Come Elizabeth, our crewmates are safe for the moment, we need to get you medical treatment immediately."
"Blue's right Lola. Let's get ya outta here on the...flying bison thing here." The muscular giant looked up to the girl on the back of said creature. "Yo kid, mind giving us a hand? First time flyer and all."
"Get on the damn thing James. I can wait." Shepard barely seemed to have the energy to give him a casual wave of indifference. "I'll just wait for Chakwas to get to me."
"Is she always so-" Jinora started to ask.
"Yes." Tenzin wasn't exactly surprised when the odd man with mandibles and James responded at the same time, as if this was nothing new.
"Elizabeth... get on the flying mammal. Now." Liara softly growled, with a dark look in her blue eyes that promised a number of unpleasant things if her Commander didn't obey.
"Yes ma'am." Shepard replied with a half hearted, sarcastic salute with her good arm.
"Smart woman." Tenzin said with a knowing nod as he helped Liara with Jinora's injured passenger.
