A Matter of Time and Space
INCURSION
Ker, Hakate System, Hades Nexus – 44:30 LT – 30th April 2185 CE
The slaves were growing restless.
The batarian leader strode between the cages of the aliens, silently assessing the captured livestock. The slaver commander, Ravoln, coolly scrutinized the chained men and women crouched in their metal pens, oblivious to their sobbing cries and pleas for mercy. The aliens were an equal mix of humans, asari and turians, taken either from colonies out on the fringes of Terminus Space, or stolen to order from schools and homes; procured only if they matched a specific criteria that Ravoln's paymasters had submitted to him. Much of the criteria were unusual: a number of humans with a specific genetic abnormality; asari with low biotic potential; turians with a recessive trait not commonly found amongst their species. It was all a bit strange if he was honest. Not that Ravoln ever concerned himself with the motives of his employers, nor did he care about the morality of his trade. After all, non-batarians were lower life-forms. All of them: asari, drell, elcor, hanar, humans, salarians, turians, they were all lesser species that couldn't hope to match the beauty and power of the Batarian Hegemony. As far as Ravoln was concerned, these captives were commodities to be sold or traded just like any other slave. Besides, he was being paid handsomely for this cargo. Enough even for me to retire on, perhaps? Though, in his heart of hearts he knew he'd never retire. He enjoyed his work too much.
Ravoln turned away from the mewling stock and strode towards his subordinate standing by the control panel at the far end of the main hanger.
"Okay, knock 'em out and load 'em aboard the ship!" Ravoln ordered.
The cries from the slaves intensified in volume. Obediently, a member of his personal guard started tranquilising the slaves one-by-one. Behind Ravoln, the slave's pitiful yells were gradually being extinguished.
"Recall all sentries to the hanger. We're moving out," Ravoln ordered the guard at the console.
"Yes, sir," the guard replied, and began to call in the guards.
Ravoln smiled as he allowed himself a mental stroke of his ego for his foresight in electing to settle in this region. The safehouse on Ker had proved the perfect base of operations for many long successful years. Supposedly a Garden World, Ker was only marginally habitable, having no natural fauna or flora beyond microscopic life-forms. It was essentially a giant rock in space, but one with few valuable minerals (which kept the mining companies away), and an atmospheric pressure and temperature high enough that it was possible to walk the surface with only a breather-mask and adequate thermal clothing.
In fact, the entire planet was so far off the beaten track that they hadn't even seen another starship enter the system in almost three years.
Ravoln scratched absently at the small scar below his blind lower left eye; his yellow skin flushing slightly at the sight of a captive asari trying to send a weak biotic pulse at the guard with the tranquiliser. The pulse rebounded harmlessly off the guard's armour, before the asari was put down by the effects of the tranq dart. Ravoln grinned again. Seeing the slaves try to make a spirited but ultimately useless struggle always cheered him up.
Just then, the guard by the console called out to him.
"Sir, two of our sentries aren't reporting in."
Ravoln narrowed his eyes. "Where?" he demanded.
"The galley area, sir."
"Call up the feed," he ordered. A holographic vid-link with the galley appeared above the console. The galley was empty except for the bodies of the two guards that Ravoln had assigned to that area. One was lying across a food dispenser, while the other was spread-eagled on one of the tables.
"Scans show they're alive, sir, but unconscious," the guard by the console said.
"What are they doing? Drinking on the job?"
"I'm… not sure, sir." He began to run a sensor analysis of that area.
"I'll have their hides for this!"
The guard completed his sensor analysis. "Sir! Sensors indicate the alarm on the seal for the ventilation shaft in the galley has been bypassed…"
"What?!" Ravoln shoved the guard away from the console and checked the data himself. The ventilation shaft alarm had indeed been bypassed. "Why the hell didn't you see this before?" he raged at the guard.
"Well… because the alarm was bypassed, sir. There was no way of knowing anything was wrong until I did a sensor sweep."
Ravoln almost punched the man in the face. "Aaarrhh!" he raged. Instead he punched at the intercom switch. "All hands. Security breach. We have intruder in the mess deck. Weapons hot and shoot to kill!" Then he turned to the guard and actually did punch him, sending him sprawling on the ground. The guard with the tranquiliser gun looked up from his work. "Get on with your job!" Ravoln commanded. "Tranq those slaves and load them on the ship!"
The guard on the floor groaned, and struggled to rise to his feet. Ravoln turned away in disgust. He was half tempted to shoot the man on the spot, but that would have left him short on manpower. "Find this intruder," he ordered, his voice icily-cold.
"Yes, sir," the man mumbled as he returned to the console. "Sorry, sir."
Only half-a-minute later, the guard called out to him again. "I think I've got something, sir."
Ravoln rushed up to the console. "Where is the bastard?"
"South quarter," the guard said pointing at the feed from that area. Ravoln stared. The security feed showed two of his guards standing at attention in one of the main corridors near the main quarters, their backs to the camera. Out of the shadows, Ravoln saw a flicker of movement. A slim black clad figure snuck out from hiding and stole silently towards the guards.
Ravoln activated the comm and barked into the mic.
"Intruder, corridor S2! Watch your backs!"
Alerted, the guards turned quickly… but the intruder sprung forward like a snake. The figure kicked the rifle out of the first guard's hands, disarming him with alarming speed, before bringing out his own weapon and firing it at the second guard at point-blank range. The second guard went down. His comrade swung at the intruder, but the figure ducked under the blow and then jumped up, locking his legs around the first guard's throat in a scissor grip.
Then the intruder did something Ravoln had never seen before.
He swung his whole body in a smooth horizontal arc to pivot around the guard's neck and use his momentum to throw the guard backwards. Caught in the scissor-grip, the guard went head-over-heels, landing face-down, helpless and immobilized as the intruder applied pressure to the guard's windpipe. A few moments later, the guard stopped struggling and lay still.
Ravoln stared in shock. The whole attack had lasted less than ten seconds.
"What in hell's name…?" Ravoln muttered.
On-screen, the intruder had risen from the guard's prone form and was now walking casually towards the camera. The intruder brought his weapon up and fired. The feed went black. The intruder had shot the camera.
"That was a turian, sir," the guard next to Ravoln said. "The leg spurs are a dead giveaway."
Ravoln blinked. He had to admit he hadn't seen the intruder's leg spurs, not that he was going to admit that. Quickly recovering his composure, he hit the intercom. "Intruder in South Quarter. Stay in your groups. Do NOT try to take him down alone. Watch the shadows and shoot on sight!" He turned to the guard beside him. "Bring up every security feed we have. Find that bastard!"
The guard quickly brought up the security feed for the base, scanning every one for any sign of the intruder.
Something caught his eye.
"There!" He pointed at another feed from the East Quarter. Two of Ravoln's men were in a service corridor, facing away from each other as they watched either end of the corridor.
Then the intruder emerged from the shadows between them. Ravoln reacted instantly.
"Corridor E3. Behind you!"
Both guards turned and saw the intruder. They brought their weapons up and fired.
The bullets passed harmlessly through the intruder, but ripped through the guard's shields and armour. They cried out as they went down under the friendly fire.
The holographic representation of the intruder flared white with static and then vanished into thin air, just as the real intruder emerged from his hiding place. He raised his weapon to the camera and the screen went black.
"It was a decoy, sir!" the man beside Ravoln stated somewhat redundantly. Ravoln glared at him.
"I'm surrounded by idiots!" Ravoln muttered.
"Intruder approaching the rec hall, sir," the guard said. Ravoln glanced up at the screen. The intruder was blatantly strolling down the corridor, not even trying to hide in the shadows. Ravoln smiled. On the other side of that door were four guards ready and waiting behind security barriers and armed with assault rifles. The intruder had become overconfident; there was no way he could take them all down.
"We have him," Ravoln said with no little satisfaction.
The intruder activated his omni-tool. Ravoln ordered the feed from the rec hall to be brought up on the display. The guard with the tranquiliser had joined them at the console to Ravoln's left. On screen, the image showed the rec hall doors open and the intruder saunter into the hall.
"He's in the rec hall. Kill him!" Ravoln ordered over the comm.
As one the guards in the rec hall rose from cover and opened fire. The intruder ducked behind a cargo container to avoid the hail of bullets.
"We've got him pinned," Ravoln crowed happily. "Move in!" he ordered his men over the comm. "Finish him off."
The intruder activated his omni-tool.
A second later a figure materialised behind his men on the opposite side of the room. It was a perfect copy of the intruder. One of his men saw it and turned to fire.
"That's a decoy!" Ravoln shouted over the comm. "He's trying to trick you. Ignore it and concentrate on the main doors."
The guard on screen turned away from the intruder's holographic copy to continue to fire on the figure pinned down by the main doors.
Hardly anyone noticed the small oblate spheroid suddenly thump against the security barrier next to the guard's heads. The spheroid beeped quietly to itself as it adhered to the surface. One of the guards glanced at it and his eyes went wide in recognition.
"Grenade!" he yelled.
They barely had time to scatter before the grenade exploded. The force of the explosion threw them back, knocking two of them insensible. The pair who were still conscious were swiftly shot by the supposed holographic decoy standing behind them. The figure by the main doors was also standing, mirroring the other's actions. Then it disappeared in a static flash.
Ravoln stared at the chaotic scene on the monitor, hardly believing what he'd seen.
The figure by the main doors had been the decoy!
The real intruder stared up at the camera and fired his weapon, destroying the feed.
"Tactical cloaking," the guard beside Ravoln murmured. "The intruder has infiltrator tech!"
In reply, Ravoln grabbed both guards by the shoulders. "Stand outside!" he ordered, manoeuvring the guards to the hanger doors. "Defend the doors and don't let anyone in!"
"But, sir!" the men protested.
"That's an order!" Ravoln said, shoving the two men across the threshold. He closed the hanger doors. The lock glowed red, sealing himself off from the rest of the base.
Ravoln turned and paced back and forth. He was half-tempted to get on the shuttle and leave, but then he realised he couldn't operate the ship by himself. He needed at least three crewmen… and he'd just sent his remaining two out to guard the door.
He cursed silently. He was torn between his animal instinct for survival and his mercenary greed for the handsome payment that was due when he delivered this cargo. Assuming he could kill this intruder, of course. He thought about it for a second. The intruder had just cut down most of his crew, thereby substantially increasing his cut of the profits. Ravoln grinned as greed won out. He supposed he should thank this turian when he saw him.
Yeah, right before I shoot him between the eyes, he thought.
Any further musings were quickly quashed when gunfire sounded from the other side of the hanger doors. Ravoln grabbed his own rifle, training it on the doors as he listened to the shouts and sounds of battle. One of his guards yelled just before he heard the distinctive smack of flesh on metal. There were groans. Something heavy hit the floor. More gunfire sounded. Then, there was another yell, accompanied by a sharp crack and a cry of pain.
Then silence.
Ravoln stared unblinking at the main doors.
Suddenly, the red seal on the door changed to green. It had unlocked. Ravoln tensed, ready to fire.
The doors opened revealing one of his guards on the floor with the other standing like a statue with his hands up.
"Don't shoo…!" the man began but Ravoln opened fire.
A hail of bullets hit the guard in the chest. He fell back under the onslaught, the man groaning and writhing on the ground, numerous bullet-wounds scarring his armour.
The doors remained open. But, other than the two guards on the floor, there was no sign of the intruder.
The bastard is tactically cloaked, he thought, and probably already in the room! Ravoln waved his gun left and right, seeking out any hint of movement or some sign of a cloaking device.
His upper eyes caught a whisper of movement. There was a minute static discharge from his right. Ravoln swung about just as a black-clad figure materialised in the air beside him. A three-fingered hand grabbed the barrel of his rifle and held it there. Ravoln found he was staring at himself, his wide-eyed expression echoed in the turian's reflective helmet.
"You have good eyes," the intruder commented.
Ravoln started in surprise; the voice sounded feminine. The intruder was female!
That momentary hesitation was all the intruder needed.
The turian grabbed the butt of his rifle and twisted it out of his grip. Ravoln backed away, groping for his sidearm. The turian kicked out, winding him as the impact connected with his chest. Ravoln stumbled. A firm punch to his face backed him up further. Ravoln sent two wild strikes towards the intruder, the punches connecting with nothing but air.
The intruder ducked and spun, extending a leg and sweeping out his own legs from under him. Ravoln landed heavily, but rolled away, rising to his feet
"You think you have us beat?" he asked, playing for time.
"The evidence would suggest that, yeah," the turian replied, shrugging.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with! You don't know how big we are." Ravoln turned slightly away from the turian and activated his omni-tool, firing up the prototype program.
"You're just a drone!" the intruder fired back. "We want the queen-bee. And you're gonna tell us everything you know."
"Like hell I will!" Ravoln yelled. His omni-tool flared to life. The fabricator working beyond its normal capacity as it started to craft something at incredible speed. A shining, burning hot blade appeared around his wrist. Ravoln lunged at the turian. The intruder barely had time to dodge the attack. She ducked and dodged his wild swings before managing to grab his wrist and twist his arm into a painful lock, staring at the blade in admiration.
"That's new," the intruder muttered.
The turian spun, twisting his whole body around and smashing his arm against the console. The white-hot blade shattered into a thousand shards.
A sharp punch to his lower left eye sent him reeling. Ravoln backed away, raising his hands protectively to shield his face… which is just what the intruder wanted.
The turian stepped in and a powerful kick to his groin stopped him in his tracks. Ravoln gasped as searing pain spread through lower body. Ravoln dropped his guard and clutched at his cod piece. He felt sick. He wanted to vomit. Despite his armour, the kick had connected with all the force of jack-hammer.
"I won't… tell you anything," Ravoln managed to whimper.
The intruder tilted her head and regarded the beaten slaver. "Sure you will," she said.
Before he could retort, the intruder had snapped her head back then crashed her helmet against his nose. White stars exploded in his vision. Ravoln collapsed, hardly noticing the cold floor against his head. The last thing he saw was the intruder standing over him as she casually pointing her stunner at his head… then everything went black.
The intruder stared down at the slaver's unconscious form, wiping away the batarian's blood from her helmet. The injured guard was still groaning in the doorway. The intruder brought her stunner up and fired, putting a temporary end to the guard's misery.
She walked over to the main console and activated her omni-tool. After a few seconds the device completed its scan of the controls, confirming they weren't booby-trapped. The intruder accessed the controls and tapped away at the interface.
She quickly disengaged the communication jammers and opened the security doors, and then raised a finger to her helmet's communicator.
"Control, this is Shadow One. Are you receiving me?"
"We read you Shadow One," a male flanging voice replied. "Good to hear your voice. What's your status?"
"Enemy has been pacified. Doors are unlocked and security is down. You can send in the troops."
"Roger that, Shadow One. Extraction team is moving in. Did you encounter much resistance?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle. In fact, I think I got most of them."
"Good job. I don't suppose you left anything for us?"
"A few stragglers."
"Do you require heavy support?"
"Just a clean-up crew," the woman replied. "We have captured turian, asari, and human civilians down here. They need medical assistance."
"Acknowledged. Medics are incoming. We'll be with you shortly. Stay at your location, Shadow One."
"Aye, aye, Control."
The intruder turned her attention to the captured slaves. The controls for their cages were on the console. The turian unlocked their restraints and went to assess their condition. The scans from her omni-tool revealed that they had been tranquilised and were unconscious… well, all except one.
The cage closest to the hanger doors was occupied by a young asari, cowering against the bars and watching the intruder with wide, unblinking eyes. It was likely the slaver's hadn't completed knocking out all the captives yet.
The intruder approached the asari's cage. She looked very young, and was wearing a torn and soiled yellow child's dress. If she was turian, the intruder would guess she was probably no more than six years old. But that estimate was likely way off where asari were concerned.
"Hey. Hey there," the intruder said gently. "It's okay. It's okay. You're okay now. I'm here to help. I'm here to take you home."
The asari was shaking with terror. The intruder slowly opened the cage and ducked under the door.
"Can you tell me where you come from, Sweetie?" the turian asked. "I can get you back to your family."
"The bad men hit mommy," the young girl wailed. "She wouldn't get up!"
The stranger took a step towards her. "What's your name, Sweetie? What does mommy call you?" The asari screwed her face up in a silent howl. "Hey." The stranger lowered her voice. "Shhh, shhh, shhh. You're alright now. The bad men can't hurt you. Not while I'm here."
"I want mommy!" the girl cried.
"I know, Honey. I know. But I bet mommy would want you to be brave now, wouldn't she?"
The girl simply stared, wide-eyed at her own reflection in the helmet's visor.
"No-one's going to hurt you anymore," the stranger assured her in a gentle voice. "I'm here to help you get home. Away from the ugly bad men."
"Are you like them?" the child demanded, pointing at the prone batarians on the floor.
The stranger glanced at where she was pointing. "No, Honey. I'm not like them. They're batarians. I'm turian. Have you met turians before?"
The girl nodded hesitantly.
"Was your daddy a turian?"
The girl shook her head.
The stranger edged slightly closer. The young asari retreated further into the corner, away from the intruder.
"Tell you what, how about I tell you my name and then you can tell me your name? Is that okay with you, Sweetie?" the stranger suggested.
The girl gave the turian a long, appraising look, and then nodded slowly.
The stranger disengaged her helmet's pressure seal. There was a slight hiss as the suit pressure equalised, then she lifted it clear. Behind the mask was a tan-coloured turian face with blue and red markings around her eyes. The stranger smiled a warm smile at the girl, then removed her right glove and held out the uncovered hand, palm up, as if in submission. Her mandibles twitched slowly, gently. She didn't try to grab the girl, but merely offered the hand over, waiting patiently for the young asari to take it in her own time. The girl locked eyes with the friendly looking turian, a few tears still rolling down her blue cheeks.
The stranger spoke again in a soothing, velvety soft tone.
"My name is Valni Severan."