Her eyes opened to darkness, save for the dim orange glow radiating off her left arm. The alarm on her omni-tool was doing exactly what it was meant to do - annoying the hell out of her, and getting her up and moving. Sleeping in unfortunately wasn't an option.
Not that Vetra didn't have any time to waste. The turian had long ago figured out a work schedule that gave her some leeway in the morning. With luck, she wouldn't have to report to Kesh for another ten, maybe fifteen minutes.
With a groan she deactivated her alarm and let out a yawn, letting her mandibles stretch. Turning on the small sunlamps in her "apartment" was another annoyance, but it certainly encouraged her to get out of bed a little bit more. With a push of another button on her omni-tool the lights came on, causing her eyes to squint and adjust to the brightness. Although, Vetra could already tell they weren't as bright as usual. It seemed like the lights were getting dimmer all the time.
She couldn't blame them for wanting to save power. The Nexus wasn't designed to run entirely on it's own, let alone for an extended duration without supplies. They'd expected to have at least one ark show up by now, but after fourteen months in Heleus they hadn't heard from a single one, not even the turian ark.
It was a wonder the station was still holding itself together.
Vetra shook her head to clear her thoughts - two minutes had passed while she reminisced, and she needed to get moving. Any second she wasn't on the job was a second where something could go wrong, and Vetra would be damned if she had come this far to watch everything fall apart now.
Getting dressed and having a bite of a leftover ration bar from the night before took another five minutes. Would've only taken four, but her boots had really been uncooperative lately. Seems they didn't like getting snapped into place like they used to, but maybe that was to be expected from six hundred year old clothes.
Lucky for her, even if she was late Vetra doubted the Nexus leadership would actually do anything about it. Kesh probably wouldn't even bring it up. But again, any second she wasn't on the job…
The walk to the tram wouldn't take long. Forty-five seconds, less if she booked it past cryo, and even fewer if she didn't take a slight detour to bang on Sid's door once or twice as she walked by (which she always did.)
The Nexus was dark - as usual - save for the occasional dim lamp which lit the pathway. The station had giant sunlamps that would simulate a real sky and sunlight when fully powered, but those hadn't been on since the revolt started
The tram had the usual faces; James from engineering, Lenana from maintenance, Tallin from security, and a few others all trying to keep this station running. Most of the conversation was short, just a simple "hey" or a head nod - fourteen months of increasing desperation had a way of squashing the desire for small talk. A couple of humans bringing food from hydroponics were talking about rumors that an ark had crashed into a planet at hyperspeed, though they couldn't decide if it was Turian or Asari.
Just rumors. Vetra thought. Of course, nobody really knew what had happened to all them. Maybe they were just running behind. Maybe they had a problem mid-trip and were drifting hulks in the middle of darkspace. Maybe they ran into the scourge like the Nexus.
Or maybe they were all about to make contact in the next thirty seconds and bring everyone presents and food that didn't taste like a varren's ass. Unlikely, but Vetra had to hope that at least one of the arks was still out there.
If only they had even just one ark, one Pathfinder … then maybe they could maybe fix everything that had gone wrong.
She was the first one off the tram when it arrived at Operations, and made a brisk pace towards Kesh's office.
Checking her omni-tool while she walked, she saw that construction on additional generators was being delayed: not enough supplies in stock for anyone to work with. Maybe she could re-route a few supplies from less essential areas to help get things up and running.
Walking into Kesh's office, she spotted the krogan at her desk, browsing her omni-tool. Most likely looking through the same reports Vetra herself had been reading just a moment ago.
Kesh's eyes darted up at the turian before turning her attention back to her omni-tool.
"Good. You're here." Kesh said. "Looks like those extra generators can't be built until we can find more supplies."
"I know, I was just reading the same thing. Any ideas?" Vetra asked.
"Well, you know the top priority is always keeping the station running. No power means we all go belly up in a hurry. For now, go see if anyone has any spare materials lying around. There's bound to be something we can use."
An easy job. Vetra thought as she gave Kesh a nod and walked out of her office. All she had to do was contact the folks in charge of the operations where materials were being taken and make sure they sent all they could spare to help with the generators. Easy enough, and certainly easier than her work before her and Sid joined the Initiative. The living conditions weren't all that much better. Cleaner, certainly, but food was less available and each of them needed to be on the job more often.
A ping popped up on her omni-tool.
This is engineer Bailey. Got eyes on a ship down in cargo, manifest calls it the "Tempest". She's got supplies on board that could help keep power running for months. Requesting permission to commence scrapping operations.
The turian let out a sigh.
Third one this week. When will those idiots get it… she thought.
She quickly responded with a "Request: Denied", feeling a small tinge of satisfaction as she hit send. While almost everyone else onboard seemed content with stripping the ship down, Vetra knew that it would be needed eventually. Sooner or later, someone had to get out there and start making things right again.
Sooner or later, a Pathfinder would need that ship.
Once Kesh ran out of thing for her to do, Vetra decided to start the other part of her job:
The Exchange.
It's not really a surprise on such a big station, but people brought a lot of stuff from home. Most stuff was marked for the Initiative - primarily basic supplies needed to make sure the station could continue to function. But almost every would-be colonist brought as many personal items as the Initiative would allow them to.
This was where Vetra's skills came into play. It doesn't matter what galaxy you're in: everyone wants something. It's just a matter of who they are, and what they're willing to exchange for what they need.
So on her off time, Vetra would scour the station making deals ...
Walking out into the lower operation section, it wasn't long before she overheard a salarian complaining to a turian that worked in rations distribution.
As good a place to start as any.
"Please, I'm begging you! He just needs one, maybe two more rations bars a day and he'll be fine!" the salarian said to the turian, his mandible twitching in a sign of annoyance.
"I told you, sir. We can't afford to give out any more rations. We need to make sure we can last on our own as long as possible." he told the salarian. The argument between the two continued on as Vetra fiddled with her omni-tool, trying her best to act like she wasn't listening.
"For the last time. We can't give you any more. I'm sorry, but I have to make sure everyone on the station is getting their fair share of food." the turian said as he began to walk towards the tram.
"But Hurann isn't getting enough!" the salarian yelled, but the turian just kept on walking.
"Hey." Vetra said once the other turian was out of earshot, and the salarian quickly turned to look at her. "Couldn't help but overhear your problem. Got some trouble with your rations?"
"Yes, yes! Finally someone is willing to listen to me!" the salarian said, letting out a sigh. "My brother has a rare condition that requires him to have a slightly higher calorie intake than the average salarian. If he doesn't get enough food, he won't be able to work as hard, and he might even get sick!"
"Hmm, I see. Well, I can't get you any more rations on my own, but… maybe we could make a trade for something else." Vetra said.
"Something else? Like what?" the salarian asked.
"Depends on what you brought to Andromeda."
The salarian nodded his head, seeming to understand what Vetra was getting at. He took a moment to think, rubbing his chin before giving her an answer.
"Well… I brought a pistol with me in my storage compartment. Carnifex, never been fired before. Nobody knew what we were going to find at the time, so I thought why not?"
"A Carnifex, huh? Hmm… You know, I always wanted one of those. But I don't think your brother can eat any dextro rations, can he?."
"No… I suppose not..." the salarian said, lowering his head slightly.
"But you know, maybe I can make a deal with someone else, try to get your brother a few extra bars every now and then. Stay right here, I'll see if I can find you a decent trade."
The salarian let out a sudden smile and nodded before taking a seat on one of the nearby benches while Vetra pulled up her omni-tool and started looking through her contacts to see what was new from her contacts.
Let's see… Kesh wants a bottle of ryncol. Good luck with that one… Kelinna's still looking for that one asari mural. Gonna need to do a bit more research on that one… Martin's sister is looking for a few photos of Earth, apparently feeling a little homesick. Is that so?
As luck would have it, Vetra had made a trade just last week where she got terabytes worth of photos and vids of various Council planets in exchange for moving someone's mom further up the list on the cryo release schedule. She had been feeling rather homesick herself, and knew that someone else would be feeling the same at some point.
She quickly found the girl's information and called her. With luck, this could be wrapped up fairly easily.
"Hello?" A female voice said from Vetra's omni-tool.
"Callista, right? I understand you've been feeling a bit homesick lately."
"Um, well… yeah. Who is this exactly?" Callista asked.
"Name's Vetra. I work closely with Superintendent Kesh. Anyway, I heard about your problem and remembered I had a few terabytes worth of photos and vids from back home."
"What? Any of Earth?" she asked.
"I can remember a few dozen off the top of my head, yeah." Vetra replied.
"Oh my… please let me- I mean, can I maybe have them?" she asked timidly.
"Well, that depends… You wouldn't happen to be willing to part with one or two of your ration bars every now and then, would you?"
"Uh… no not at all! I haven't been eating very much since I got out of cryo. It's been… rough."
"I understand, Callista. It's been rough, but we're all gonna get through this eventually." Vetra said.
"Thanks. So… wait. Why does a turian need levo rations bars?"
"Oh, they're not for me. A friend of mine want's a few extra. I prefer no allergic reactions when I eat my food, you know?" Vetra said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, I guess… So, can I get those vids?" she asked.
Vetra let out a huff of air as she away at her omni-tool, sending all the data her way.
"Of course. Pleasure doing business with you, Callista."
"Thank you so much!" she yelled in excitement before Vetra closed the call. She seemed like a good kid.
So in the end, the salarian got his rations, Vetra got her gun, and the human girl got to enjoy six hundred year old vids of places 2 million light years away. Everybody walked away happy.
Most of the time, these trades ended with Vetra trading things from person to person, but every now and then someone had something that could be really valuable to the Initiative, something Vetra always kept an eye out for..
The rest of the day was rather uneventful, until she finally managed to get another break, which for Vetra meant heading back to her room and making sure the station was going to last through the month.
The numbers weren't looking good. Sure, everyone could at least survive for now, but supplies were getting smaller and smaller. They could delay things a few more months if need be, but there was no doubt in her mind; if they stayed like this, the entire Initiative was done for.
Sometimes, Vetra wondered why she even brought Sid here in the first place. It's not every day you ask your sister,"Hey kiddo, how'd you like to go to another galaxy?" but at the time it seemed like a great plan. An opportunity to get away from everything back home, a fresh start.
Now she was wondering if she'd made the right call. There wasn't much reason to call their current predicament living. Surviving was more accurate.
She heard another ping.
To: Vetra Nyx
From: Superintendent Nakmor Kesh
Vetra,
Tann has been hounding me to get him reports on our medical supplies. Say's it's of "urgent concern." Everything's always urgent with that damned salarian. Get me a report within the hour. Maybe longer, just to piss off Tann a little.
-Kesh
She let out a chuckle as she began typing her reply.
To: Superintendent Nakmor Kesh
From: Vetra Nyx
Was just looking at the reports now, Kesh. I'll send them with this message. Estimates on how long they'll last are up from last week, so it shouldn't be an immediate concern.
-V
P.S. How about we send him a report on our supply of graxen just for fun? He'll probably freak out for a second before he realizes he's getting worked up over an extreme shortage of turian snacks.
After hitting send, it was right back to digging through those reports before another message from Kesh came through.
To: Vetra Nyx
From: Superintendent Nakmor Kesh
Ha! I bet that'll work him up real good. Between him and the malfunctions coming from docking control, I've almost had it. Hell, just a minute ago the control system started the ark docking procedures out of nowhere. Damned scourge. Things would be a whole lot easier around here if that space cloud hadn't popped up out of nowhere.
-Kesh.
As nice as it would've been to actually have an ark show up, Vetra knew better than to get her hopes up. The scourge did a number on a lot of equipment when the Nexus first hit Heleus, and this certainly wasn't the first time a non-existent ark requested permission to dock.
Again, the thought of why she even came to Andromeda popped into her head. Did she really need to go to another galaxy just to get a fresh start? If she'd worked hard enough for a few years she probably could've found a nice spot somewhere deep in either Council or Alliance space where she could keep Sid safe.
Of course, that ship had long since sailed.
Keeping Sid safe was turning out to be a challenge. Sure, it was a hell of a lot safer than that week they'd stayed on Omega, but at least there had been ways to get out of that hellhole. Here? They had nowhere else to go, unless they fancied making nice with the Exiles. And from what she'd been hearing from her contacts, 'unsafe' would be an understatement.
Trying to actually settle planets of their own has been put on hold after what happened on Eos; whole outposts swallowed by gale force winds in that radioactive wasteland. And as far as anyone on the Nexus could tell, all seven golden worlds had been a bust.
There was nowhere else to run. They had to make this work. The alternative was… not even worth thinking about.
She noted the time. Her break would last for another half hour, but Vetra knew full well she wasn't going to use it. Might as well head back to Kesh, or maybe see if Kandros or Addision needed anything.
Before she was about to head out, she notice a sudden burst of comm chatter, mainly coming out of Operations. Seems something had a lot of them spooked. She tuned into one of the frequencies, hoping that it wasn't anything serious like a Kett attack.
"Are you sure? We've had malfunctions like this before." she heard Addison ask.
"I'm sure, Ma'am. Docking clamps are locked and in place. I think we've found an ark." another human said.
"Finally. Hyperion, is it? If anyone can help fix this mess, it's Alec. Is anyone going to meet our new arrivals?"
"Already on my way, Addison." Kandros said. "I'll get the Pathfinder to you as soon as possible."
Vetra couldn't believe it. Was this really happening? An ark was finally showing up after all this time?
This changed everything! They'd have more food, water, materials to keep the Nexus running, and not to mention the additional power boost from the ark. With the Nexus stable, they could finally focus on getting more outposts started, and keeping them up. And with a Pathfinder here, who knows what-
A Pathfinder. She thought.
They're going to need a ship.