Title: MASS EFFECT: Infinity
Author: Shay L. {FableHeroess117}
Category: Action/Romance
Rating: M for Mature
Series: Mass Effect
SPOILER ALERT
Disclaimer: Bioware owns the Intellectual Property Mass Effect and all of its concepts therein. This fanfic is for entertainment purposes only and is not profited from.
Summary:
This fanfic picks up towards the end of Mass Effect: Ascension, written by Drew Karpyshyn, on the quarian ship the Idenna right before they were boarded by Cerberus lackeys. In the Mass Effect timeline it's two or three months after the attack on the Citadel. There will be two main characters but for now you will see a young quarian named Altaea'Rit nar Idenna; who decidedly hates her own people for their lack of action to find a new home world in the last three hundred years since they lost theirs to the geth. The second MC will be presented in a later chapter. The plot will take some interesting turns and be very broad but true to the Mass Effect universe. There will be love, loss, battle and oh yes, there will be blood. ^_^ Note there will also be lesbian interactions, descriptive violence and remember that this is an M rated fanfic!
Mass Effect: Infinity
CHAPTER ONE - Necessary Loss
"Once you leave, you may not return to your birth ship, Altaea." Concern for quarian youths was usually unfounded, as they were in no immediate danger aboard their birth ships, but not when they were to leave for their Pilgrimage. Parents were only permitted, by law or captain's orders, to have one child; this was to ensure a zero-growth percentage in the quarian population. And though the right of passage sought after by almost all quarians was something of an exciting time for the family of the youths, some didn't take to the idea of their only child leaving. Especially Nahket'Rit vas Idenna - whose daughter wanted to leave for her Pilgrimage earlier than was normally permitted.
Pushing her mother's hand from her upper arm, where it had landed pleadingly as she spoke through her protective helmet, Altaea shook her head. "Mother, this is how it is meant to be. I do not conform to the mold of a typical quarian and I apologize. I feel an outcast in a place where our species were meant to feel welcomed." Sliding the omni-tool of her own design comfortably over her left forearm, the young girl returned her lavender gaze to her parent. "Please, don't make this any more difficult. The Pilgrimage brings advancements to our people and you should be proud that I wish to partake in my right of passage in an earlier stage of life."
The species damned for the illegal creation of AI laborers, the geth, measured time differently than most societies because they lived amongst a far-from-lavish Flotilla. They never had a sun or central star to measure day or night by and therefore measured time as it passed in technical displays all about their thousands of ships. They adjusted time so that Migrant Fleet ships were only ever fractions of a second different. In comparison to the human measurement of time - Altaea was leaving for Pilgrimage a whole two years early.
Whereas she said her wish to leave early was merely a sincere drive to bring more technology to her people; the young quarian wanted nothing more than to simply get away from them. They depressed and angered her. The way they sucked resources from other civilizations and considered it 'necessary'. Altaea had seen the logic in finding a new home world when she was a mere child, but never had she voiced the disgust she held for her people. Though she hated them - she wouldn't openly bash them and be banned. Not when she had one that she knew she could count on.
"Surely you understand the difficulty in letting one so young wander the vastness of the galaxy too early, Altaea. I'm not being irrational in assuming I have the right to tell you to wait and that your time will come if only you would sit and wait for it." The words were rushed as the elder quarian was scared her only child might push past to leave and not hear them at all. "You're not ready, Altaea."
The small cubical they knew to be their home on the medium-sized cruiser, the Idenna, was a space with three, twelve foot walls that reached three-quarters of the way to the ceiling and a cloth in place of a door. The area within was small, crowded and accommodations for the three person family were pathetic at best. Each family member owned a sleeping bundle, consisting of a make-shift sleeping bag and an inflatable pillow. Any belongings beyond that were seen as 'unnecessary' and even looked down upon.
The tools of their multiple trades on the ships they served were either kept on their person or put in a bin on the trading deck; a massive area of large crates and bins filled to their brims with 'unused' objects that every ship-member had the option to take, use and put back. Altaea, however, didn't like to give up her things to the trading deck because she had designed and built most of the tools herself. Especially her omni-tool - a gift from her dearest friend that came straight from Ariake Technologies; an electronics developer renown for their high grade omni-tools. Even before she made custom improvements to it, both parents urged her to share the gift with those who could use it while she wasn't. The discussions usually ended with them all fuming and Altaea's parents disappointed in their child's selfishness.
"I understand your concern, Mother. And I respect your opinion as much as that of Father or our Ancestors - but I'm ready now. I won't wait for my time to be dictated to me by another when I know I am capable of venturing out and making discoveries of my own." Many female quarians kept their hair long beneath their enviro-suits, but again Altaea did not fit the mold of a normal quarian. She preferred to keep her shimmery, dark blue hair short - only an inch in length. It always seemed to be either pressed down to her scalp by her helmet or spiked up sporadically from a three-fingered hand running through it.
"You know you should be wearing your mask at all times, little one. There are humans docked here, we've both seen them." The motherly tone of Nahket's voice did little to help her cause as Altaea only continued to pack the few things she had and shake her head.
"Yes, well, they've been wearing enviro-suits and I know for a fact that their ship was sanitized. I was down in the landing bay when the quarantine team went i-"
"What were you doing down there, Altaea?" Nahket cut her daughter off sternly, the parental tone overbearingly annoying if nothing else. "You weren't with her again, were you?" Altaea made a groan and it gave away the answer to her mother's question. "What have we told you about being with her?!" Nahket's voice was raised and for a moment she looked as if she might lay a hand on her child in anger. "Your relationship with that woman is unacceptable, Altaea. It is not good for either of you or the population."
Though her tone had lowered somewhat, Altaea recognized that her mother was still seething behind her mask. "Who I spend my time with is my business, Mother. And who says it is wrong? Certainly you have not always felt happiest with my Father?" Sarcasm hung on every word as she retorted, her mother's body language changing to a sturdier and perhaps violent one.
"I love your Father dearly, Altaea. But it has nothing to do with this issue. You are well aware that she has a small son and a husband of her own. What would everyone think if you were to be caught on one of your little meetings? Surely Captain Mal would only see you are truly not ready for the responsibilities that come along with the Pilgrimage and looking after yourself." Pointing at Altaea, Nahket's voice fell to a harsh whisper and she sounded again on the verge of tears. "Don't think for a single moment I'm not aware of what you two are doing when you're alone."
Flustered, the younger of the two women growled out a quarian swear and took a step closer to her mother. "You mean when our helmets and enviro-suits are off." Slapping Nahket's pointing finger down out of her face, Altaea grinned wickedly, knowing well that this would not only disgust but anger her mother. "When we find a private place on this crowded vessel and hold each other's naked bodies?!" As she came to the end of her sentence her voice grew louder to silence her mother.
"When there are no eyes to watch us as we caress and kiss each other?" She made a small noise of pleasure then laughed at her mother's disgusted expression that she could make out just beyond the helmet she wore. Altaea pulled the protective helmet of her own enviro-suit down to clasp at the base of the neck and then slide the face-plated side into place before it too established an air-tight connection to the suit. Of all the people on the Idenna, Altaea was most commonly known as the one who wore her enviro-suit but not the helmet. The young girl, only seventeen in human years, hated the overlapped sound of the air-filtration-system blundering over her voice and creating the duality other species associated with the quarians. It was too common. Too normal. Too boring.
A moment passed in which Altaea grinned with self-satisfaction before Nahket found her voice again, only it had fallen to a sad and shakiness unmistakably similar to that of a parent scared of their own child. "You're not ready for your Pilgrimage, Altaea. The population may one day need to be increased, and I can guarantee that two women aren't capable of creating children without one being an asari. And as soon as possible I'm going to tell Captain Mal about your dishonorable relationship."
Anger filled her own voice as Altaea retorted quickly, "I've already spoken with Captain Mal and he spoke fondly of my wish to commence my Pilgrimage - it shows an initiative to improve our way of life. I will be far gone before worry of that relationship would even be considered by our Captain." The light purple and white head-dress that covered the air-intake hose and the back of Altaea's helmet slid into place and held fast on its designated clasps just above the misted face plate.
"The Captain has the right to commend you, little-one, but as your parent it is I who should be deciding when you leave the safety of the Idenna. And if necessary, I'll see that woman and her family put on another ship." Though the voice of her mother was doubled by the filter on her helmet and she couldn't see her face, the girl knew by the tone of voice that her mother was verge on tears. Having been long-time friends of Captain Mal's, there was no doubt that with some influence she could have her lover's family moved to another vessel. "You don't even have the required skill-set to be on your ow-" Nahket was cut off.
"Stop it, Mother!" Standing just a few inches taller than her mother, Altaea looked across at her from the few feet that separated them easily, her three-fingered hands balled into fists. "I won't be spoken to this way any longer. I've gotten the Captain's commending, Father's blessings and it seems to me that only you seem to be upset with my leaving early. In all the studies I've partaken in, I've risen ahead of those my own age and come out with exemplary knowledge of all the technologies amongst the Flotilla. I am more than capable of adapting to harsh living conditions, just like every other quarian. I have even put forth many upgrade concepts to the current technologies we have to the Captain by using what we've already got readily available! Perhaps if you weren't so set upon my age being a problem, you'd know these things!"
Many conversations like this one had come to pass over the previous days to this one, but of them all Altaea regretted this one the most. The young woman felt that even as she was moving forward she was being held back by the people she'd come to feel obsolete. Altaea was sick of the fundamentally weak people the quarians had become since losing their home-world to the geth. In her view, the only thing holding them back from claiming a new home-world was the idea of losing their beggary rights as they passed from system to system.
"All we do is feed off of other cultures and we don't press forward. Just adapt the old technologies into some warped compilation of what they started as. I won't be part of it anymore, Mother. I won't." Pulling the small pack of items given to her by the Captain over her shoulder, Altaea stared at her mother for one more moment. "As for the love I have for her,... It won't change anything if you got them sent away." A small smirk held on her features as she ran through her mind, thoughts of her time alone with her beloved - there wasn't a person or ailment in the world that could separate them.
A few milky tears fell from the lavender eyes of Nahket as she knew it was a losing battle with her only child. The child who, from a young age, had always felt their way of living inept and undeserved. The girl who had never once done anything that was conventional to the quarian way of doing things. Altaea'Rit nar Idenna was definitely one who stood out in a crowd though she physically resembled those of her species. And Nahket felt the loss already as she let the tribally marked, white and gray clothe fall back into place, closing them in their tiny cubical. "I'm sorry, Altaea."
She blinked away the milky tears and reached down to press a button on the floor that opened a magnetically sealed compartment. From inside the compartment she pulled out a Hahne-Kedar built assault rifle. An audible gasp was barely hidden by the air-filter of Altaea's helmet as she saw the weapon. "I know it's customary to give extravagant gifts when another leaves for their Pilgrimage but I only have this to give you." Coming to her full height again, Nahket held out the AR for her daughter to take and examine.
Upon the side where it once read the serial number of the weapon was a seared-in word, 'Miros'. Which, translated roughly into trade-speak meant - origins, a word Altaea instantly planned to remove once free of the Migrant Fleet. "This was given to me by my father when I left the Grantrum for my own right of passage. I never used it once, and I hope in your time away you never have to either." The pain in her voice gave away that she recognized her daughter was leaving on the next frigate off the Idenna and there was little she could do to dissuade her. "He would have been honored to have one so young in our clan seek their Pilgrimage."
Altaea took the AR gingerly and examined it from stock to barrel and back again, the movement taking up the rest of the space in the cubical. "Thank you, Mother." Her tone was bright and appreciative, though in her mind she wished only to get off the Idenna and onto the nearest planet. In the last four years her opinions of her own species had become dark, detached and uncomfortable. She didn't like what she'd been born into and the fact that it was only in the last few years that her Captain and a few others had finally started considering a plan of action - sickened her.
Nahket handed her daughter the weapon's holster, a small, four pronged clip that held its designated weapon to the back of any enviro-suit. Altaea smirked behind her helmet and felt the blood rush to her face as she imagined using the weapon for the first time. What an exhilarating experience that will be... The thought was forced from her mind as she reminded herself she had yet to leave her birth ship.
Collapsing the AR in a fashion that showed testimate to her knowledge of a multitude of technologies, Altaea attached it to its retainer now on her back then reached out and took her mother's hand. Turning the hand palm-side up, she traced a circle into it; a sign of never-ending appreciation and love from a daughter to her mother. "We shall meet again. Thank you, Moth-" The false gratitude was cut short as the ship-wide alarm sounded.
If her face hadn't been hidden behind her helmet, one might have noticed Altaea's expression change from one of forced happiness to grim anticipation as she waited for the speakers to explain the purpose for the alarm. Many times a ship's onboard alarm would go off if there were a maintenance problem, which would only further irritate the feelings she had for her own species, seeing as they couldn't even maintain an alarm system. But then again, if they were under attack - there were a whole new playing field of experiences to be had.
Standing stalk straight as the cacophony of voices pressed through the intercom, a broad grin overtook the young quarian's pretty features. They were under attack.
"The Idenna's external communication transmitter has been disabled by the Cyniad. Security teams are being urged to make their way to the landing bay. Civilians, please remain calm and move to the upper levels of the ship." The message repeated three more times before stopping altogether.
"We must do as they instructed, little one." Nahket grabbed her daughter's hand and proceeded to calmly, but hurriedly, make her way to the nearest staircase. Altaea yanked her hand roughly from her mother's and walked along side until they were joined by a mass of others who'd been in their cubicles. When opportunity presented itself, she slowed and then turned to weave her way back to the cubical they'd just left. Once she heard her mother's distraught yells disappear into the stairwell at starboard, Altaea slid back behind the make-shift door and crouched down.
This is my chance. If I can prove myself against whatever enemy comes through from Cyniad perhaps I can get mother to abandon her tireless worry about my capabilities. And furthermore - I can get away from these people with my beloved. It was only moments later that the unmistakable sounds of AR and shotgun fire pressed through the aft staircase. Altaea was taking a few calming breaths to settle her excitement when she heard quarian security teams, four groups of three people each, weaving through the array of cubicles. As they passed her, Altaea peered from behind the curtain and noted a familiar woman on the tail end of the teams, she whispered silently, "Mieko."
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Reaching out just as the woman passed, Altaea grabbed Mieko by the forearm and pulled her into the cubical. There were no other security officers behind Mieko, so there were no worries of them being caught, but the other quarian was certainly surprised when she was spun into a cubical and disarmed quickly. A small scream emanated from her air-filtration system until she was silenced by the younger woman before the other officers could be distracted from their descent to the trading deck below.
"Mieko, it's me. Shhh!" Handing the AR back to her lover, Altaea grinned as they both unclasped their face plates with a whoosh of air pressure and propped them back to look openly at each other.
"Altaea, you shouldn't be here! We've been boarded by turncoats." Mieko's usually sultry voice was harsh for a moment before she simply stared at the younger woman, having not seen her for two days. Kissing Altaea lovingly, she placed her gloved, three-fingered hand on Altaea's hip and held her close, the AR held steadily at her side. When they pulled away Mieko'Jaa vas Idenna gazed out into the isle from behind the cloth then back to her lover. "Why haven't you left for your Pilgrimage?"
The younger quarian giggled like a school-girl as she ran her two fingers down the others' front, her thumb, and only other digit, brushed over the many buckles and straps. Starting at her neck she moved them slowly between her breasts, over her sternum and then to her flat stomach where Altaea moved her hand around Mieko to pull her closer. "And leave without you, how silly." Altaea's lavender colored eyes met Mieko's gray ones and she knew there was something wrong. A flash of genuine worry passed over her feminine features, "What is it?"
"I can't go with you, Altaea." The shame and sadness on her face was apparent though occasionally interrupted by shock as another collection of weapons-fire found their ears. "I can't leave Varn and Malo. They depend on me too much." Her duty was to protect those aboard the Idenna with her life if it came down to it, being a member of a security team. But she also had an obligatory duty to be a part of her husband and child's life. "I can't leave them."
Altaea took it in stride, putting on her charm and pressing herself against Mieko, her hands resting on her left cheek and right buttock as she forced the older woman against one of the three walls making up her cubical. "You can't tell me that you'll just forget what we have for the man you hate and a child you didn't want, Mieko. You're not being honest with yourself." Altaea spoke in a husky whisper as she barely brushed her cheek against the older quarian's, "Surely you would miss what we have."
Forgetting the danger they were in and her duties as a security officer, Mieko moaned against the girl she'd fallen in love with. The contact of their lips and Altaea's hand on her bare face was a shock to Mieko's senses. Due to wearing their suits for so much of the time, quarians were sensitive to physical contact - something that put a damper on their attention span should a moment like this arrive. "I..."
They had met during one of Altaea's weapons training courses and hit it off immediately, that was eleven human months ago. "But I-" Altaea bit gingerly on Mieko's tilted jaw in a fashion she knew the woman liked, being a masochist, another moan escaping the older's lips before they kissed again. Their lips parted only slightly as they kissed, a small exhalation paying testimate to the longing she had for Altaea.
They had spent the first few weeks in a simply platonic relationship that had one night moved to a physical level when Mieko invited Altaea to the landing bay to go through a practice run inspection on a small frigate. While the other security teams didn't always train young quarians for being officers in their future, Mieko had done so many times and felt Altaea was brash, confident and smart enough to be a security officer if she chose. After that day they grew more and more close, physically and emotionally, until they one day devised a plan to get away from the Idenna and the other quarians forever.
"Come with me, Mieko." Altaea's voice was filled with love and passion as she spoke to the older woman, but her mind was whirring with other ways to remind Mieko that she should get away from their people. "Varn took you as a bride through necessity and bedded you against your wishes. Your son is one neither wanted nor acknowledged." The lavender eyed beauty let her lips brush the security officer's lightly before she continued, her hands wandering gently over Mieko's ribs and back, "They aren't what you want. I'm what you want. And we can't be together here, amongst these obsolete people. They hate love like ours, Mieko."
Mieko was about to pull off her helmet and start unclipping her enviro-suit when almost on queue a blast from the aft staircase brought back her senses. Gray eyes that moments before lulled half-open with physical need, were now wide open as she pulled away from Altaea and closed her face plate. "I've got to go. Please, stay here." Her hand brushed against Altaea's still exposed features before she left the cubical, her thoughts on both the danger at hand and the realization that she truly didn't want to remain with Varn or Malo. She loved Altaea and needed her more than anything.
With a small laugh of satisfaction, the young quarian closed her own face plate and conceded how fantastically their brief moment had passed. "There is no chance that she'll stay here with these people, now. She loves me and is mine. I won't let them keep and destroy her." Her possessiveness of the older woman was nothing abusive but something more akin to true love - Altaea knew that if she couldn't get Mieko away from her 'family' that she would only grow old, tired and warn out years before her time. It would eventually kill her like a quick breeze cuts out a flame. She would save Mieko and be with her, one day on a ship of their own.
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The human girl that they'd passed a few human days before wandered past Altaea's cubical but changed direction on a whim and wandered to another staircase six isles over. Altaea paid little attention to her, but found that when she looked at the young human she felt a need to reach out and touch her, as if she were made of some simple but delicate material that needed watching and protecting. The feeling passed as she shook her head and the young quarian found herself staring bewildered at the human as she disappeared beyond another cubical. I'll have to ask Mieko what she knows of humans... I've never experienced such a strange need before. A scream and a slamming occurred right before voices were audible coming up the aft stairwell; the need to protect the young girl having already passed Altaea didn't budge from her position.
"They're coming up the staircase! Everyone be ready!" The words echoed down to where Altaea was kneeling in her cubical and she could here the patter of many sets of booted feet clambering about the cubicles to find cover. Since Mieko's departure she had loaded her new AR and held it at the ready, waiting for the opportune moment to use it against an enemy - hopefully a quarian one. "Targets incoming!"
Within seconds there was a barrage of gun fire and the security teams were being pushed back amongst the many cubicles for cover. Peering out Altaea saw two armed humans, one male, one female, who held position just beyond the stairwell door with their backs against two parallel cubicles. They offered up covering fire for another man as he came rushing from the stairwell door, keeping low to the ground and firing into the isle with a clearly superior weapon to those of the Idenna officers.
Kneeling down on the balls of her feet where her two toes met at the base of her foot, Altaea moved her lowered frame just beyond the cover of the cubical wall and fired a short burst of suppressive fire down to the end of the six-cubical-long isle. The rounds met the female target and bounced off her kinetic barriers, leaving them depleted but not down. Though she had never previously fired the weapon, Altaea grew accustomed to its minimal kick back and appreciated the craftsmanship that went into the upgraded auto-targeting system. "Very nice."
Grinning wildly behind her mask, she fired three more short bursts of suppressive fire before a security team began to move towards her position and she decided to move. Thus far the enemy hadn't fired upon Altaea because she'd kept a good portion of her frame low to the floor and hidden by the clothe that served as her door. She took advantage of the fact and moved to the cubical opposite her own, tumbling with a nimble and practiced form into the small space and beyond the clothe door. Once there she checked her magazine and realized she still had plenty of ammunition to provide help and did just that.
"I could definitely," she fired from the cover of one of the cubical walls, hitting a male target's kinetic barrier and getting them low enough so that the last few bursts met his shoulder and he cried out in agony before hitting the floor. "get used to this." Most quarians were all about technology and how to use it for the purpose of amending the dying Flotilla. Altaea, however, had a naturally aggressive urge to use grand technologies to fight other species and prove supremacy over them. She was a born fighter.
But just as Altaea was getting into the swing of combat and adoring the rush accompanied with it, a familiar voice pressed through the back and forth weapons fire, "Altaea!? Where are you!?" The young quarian wasn't stupid enough to rush out and grab her mother as she came running down the isle, completely oblivious to the position of the enemy causing the whole commotion. "Altaea, I'm here. Come o-"
Nahket'Rit vas Idenna wore no armor or kinetic barriers. So when the hundreds of rice-sized pellets tore through her right shoulder and spun her about, there was nothing to stop them from almost cleaving her arm clean off.
Eyes wide with something akin to glee and curiosity, Altaea watched her mortally wounded mother wriggle on the floor in agony, her face only sticking out from behind the clothe door enough to give her a clear view. "Altaea." The woman cried out, her voice obscured partially by blood coming from her mouth and from the sheer terror as she realized what was about to happen to her. Nahket began to crawl across the floor towards the cover of a cubical with her remaining good arm, "Altaea!!"
"My name is her last word." How fitting. The young woman spoke the words in a cold and unpained tone that showed how little she really cared for the woman who took another deep breath to call out her daughter's name but was shot once again. The second barrage of pellets destroying her helmet, face, neck and chest with ease, leaving behind a pulpy mess of organic and technical matter.
At least now she can't expose me and Mieko before we are able to leave this filth. The thoughts would have been considered monstrous to every species who felt attachment to their parents - but Altaea didn't care. The detachment she'd become accustomed to had not only stretched to the quarian race in general, but also stained her relationship with her parents. They were only a distraction. And now I've only got one left to think about. Though, to be honest, I'm sure he won't even notice I'm gone. The thoughts were accompanied by a pensive expression, though one tainted by a smirk of selfish and somewhat dark happiness.
"She's finally dead."
The pulpy mess the had once been her mother was pushed from her attention as a burst of fire panged off one of the cubical walls where she was taking cover. Coming to her full height again, Altaea moved out into the open isle just enough to get a clear view of the human male who she'd shot earlier, run towards the stairwell door after his two other accomplices. Taking aim, the stock of the AR resting against her shoulder, Altaea fired a short burst that tore through the meat of his left calf.
A scream cut through the orders being belted out to follow the other two targets back to the trading desk. But the man was silenced forever as Altaea moved forward confidently amongst the security teams. She squeezed the trigger once to disarm him of the shotgun he reached for and again a spray of pellets savaged his frame, this time through the throat and chest. Arterial spray fanned up in solid flow and misted slightly in a cloud of maroon blood that hung on the air, the initial spray hitting Altaea across the face plate at a 45 degree angle.
Altaea took her first life. And the only thoughts that crossed her mind were those of exhilaration and a longing for more - she would do this forever if she could. This is what life is supposed to be. Being superior to those around you and making them realize it only when you steal their last breath. Breathing heavily she rushed past the dead human on the ground and followed the security teams down to the trading decks, only to be met by one of the humans the Idenna had played host to and the two remaining targets - both dead. "Damn."
The human turned and they all started hurtling after him towards the landing bay door at the end of a long corridor, the ship he and his companions were confined to was docked at bay three. None were more surprised than he to witness two figures coming out of it.
"Hendel!" The female cried out, though by the looks of her as she grabbed her ribs, she shouldn't have yelled for her friend.
"The Cyniad." The male of the two figures cried out as he helped the female along, "The ship in bay seven. It's filled with explosives!"
Altaea found herself standing and watching the events unfold as though she were an omniscient bystander, the humans and quarians around her rushing about panicked as the human, Hendel and the other human male conversed quickly of the situation. She caught the code that would disarm the dual sync arming system, something Altaea had studied in her youth, and the fact that it would blow in two minutes time. Then the Captain ordered that they evacuate the landing bay.
A security officer near her grabbed Altaea by the upper arm and told her to run for the door that lead to the trading bay and help get everyone to the far end of the bins. Nodding, she collapsed her AR as she ran and found herself ushering others along before she had the wounded human female handed to her by the male, "Take her!" Altaea pulled the woman's arm around her neck and helped her labor along, two security officers following the man back towards the landing bay at a full run.
"Stop! Stay where you are!" The yells were ignored as the man and two quarians disappeared through the door to the landing bay.
It only took the few security teams that weren't following the man, Altaea and the wounded female a minute to reach the far end of the large trading deck, but the anticipation of a grand explosion was definitely lingering in the air as they waited. Her view was partially obstructed by the arterial spray of her first kill on her face plate, but Altaea turned and stared down the long corridor to the landing bay door anyway. She barely noticed when two quarians took the human female from her support and sat her on the floor, leaving Altaea to stare down the corridor with the other security officers.
Another minute passed and Altaea found herself worrying that the landing bay might be too damaged to allow her to leave with Mieko when they planned if the explosives blew. If we can't leave together then we can't leave at all... Her lavender gaze wandered from the landing bay door to the people around her, the familiar lithe figure of her lover moving about with her security team caught her eye, and all were holding their breath. Some for different reasons, but all wanted the explosives to be disarmed.
As if on queue a voice rang out in the thick silence. "Grayson said two minutes. It's been two minutes... I think they did it!" The human female, Kahlee Sanders spoke up. She was the offering of Lemm'Shal nar Teslaya - something that had caught the attention of the entire Idenna crew and Conclave.
The blonde woman was widely associated, by the quarians, with having been part of Saren's accomplishment in controlling the geth through a sentient Reaper ship named Sovereign. Though in truth, as Captain Mal and the Conclave had found in their inquiry; she was merely an outsider source in Saren's actions. All she knew of Saren's ability to control the geth was that it lay with Sovereign and more ships like Sovereign were possibly still within grasp if they were to seek them beyond known space.
Kahlee Sanders was a leading expert in the field of synthetic intelligence before her involvement with with an illegal research into true AI pulled her away. For some time she was drawn into a more self-redeeming occupation at the John Grissom Academy orbiting the human colonized planet, Elysium. To the quarians though, Kahlee was a tie to controlling the servants that forced them from their home-world in a vicious war that nearly destroyed their species. And since her arrival she had given the Idenna's captain an unbeatable argument in his fight for long-distance enabled ships to venture out into unknown space in search of either other Reapers like Sovereign or a new home-world.
In the seconds that followed Kahlee's outburst of glee, the human male, Grayson, had been brought back to the Trading Deck by his pursuers and was quickly followed by Hendel and Captain Mal. As the latter emerged from the landing bay door, a symphony of whoops and cheers shocked Altaea back to the present and she realized with a sigh that the plan to escape the Idenna was possible once again. Walking about, the Captain of the medium-sized cruiser grasped the forearm of each person he passed as they did the same to him, a sign similar to the human handshake or high-five. "Well done!"
Hendel made his way quickly to Kahlee's side, though by the look of him, he was a bit off-balance and ended up sitting on the floor beside her. Their conversation went ignored by the young quarian, her mind lingering only on how the recent events would hinder her ability to get off the ship with the woman she loved.
Captain Mal approached Altaea from her right and laid a hand on her shoulder before she could even turn her face to acknowledge him and made her turn with a start, "You've served your people well, Altaea'Rit." The young quarian wanted to yell that he was not her people and that she had done this for Mieko and for the opportunity to take another living being's life within reason; she was no murderer, she was an exterminator of the obsolete.
"They were unaccomplished fighters, Captain." The words had a double meaning that completely evaded the Captain, and the smirk playing on Altaea's lips went unseen by the other quarians and humans as she sheathed her collapsed AR and turned to leave. "I'll go see to my mother, now."
"I'll go with her, Captain." The voice belonged to Mieko and Altaea found herself grateful that the one she loved was going to help her recycle her mother's belongings and burn her body. It was customary aboard quarian ships that the deads undamaged belongings be put into the populace's trading bins and their body be cremated and sent into space. The process was only laborious for the families due to emotional turmoil - but Altaea was only torn about what she should keep from her mother's things.
With a nod the Captain granted Mieko her request to assist the younger, but hesitated half-way through his second nod, "Wait, what's happened? Mieko'Jaa, what needs to be tended to?"
"Nahket was killed by one of the human infiltrators, Captain." Instead of the Security Officer, Altaea spoke up in a flat tone conveying little emotion other than to state the obvious. The elder quarian's reaction was a surprised widening of his eyes followed by an inability to speak and a coughing fit behind his mask.
"How could this be? Civilians were supposed to be evacuated from the cubical decks to the higher levels; we only went up one level beyond the trading decks!" Captain Mal's voice grew more and more angry with every word and the surrounding officers turned to listen to him, a tension growing in the air as they realized it was their job to protect any stragglers in the cubical decks. "Where did this happen?"
Standing with her slight but curvy weight on one leg, Altaea looked at the Captain as though to say 'it's not such a big deal', but her tone conveyed the well-practiced acting of sadness for the loss. "I was in my families cubical when the attack occurred. Nahket came looking for me during the blitz at the aft staircase and was killed while running down the isle adjacent to our cubical. She was killed quickly."
The idea of one of his oldest friends being killed quickly was no consolation and the fact that Altaea showed little expression aside from a slight waver of the voice over her mother's demise was frustrating. "Call her your mother, Altaea. Though she is dead she is still your parent and as such will be kept at the same status in label. Now," turning to the officers behind him and away from Altaea and Mieko, he began his verbal questing of what occurred on the cubical deck 1. "Who the hell was in charge of civilian evacuation?!"
Turning on her heels, Altaea wanted badly to take off her mask but knew the dangerous possibility that those killed in battle might be carrying deadly diseases. Having lived the last three hundred years aboard a vessel in the Flotilla, quarians had almost virtually no immune system and as such were very susceptible to serious disease. "Let's get this over with and be on our way as soon as possible, Mieko. I tire of these people."
As the two lovers made their way up the stairs, they heard the Captain belting out obvious frustrations and then orders to have quarantine teams clean up the bodies of their battle. None would be allowed to remove their masks or enviro-suits until the humans and dead were gone and their blood was cleaned from the walls. As they moved out of view of the others, they intertwined their three fingered hands and walked close to each other, a small disappointment welling inside both of them. There would be a ceremony for Nahket, Altaea would have to speak if her father didn't and the hardest part of all - Mieko would have to convince the Captain that she could better serve her species on a 'secondary Pilgrimage' of sorts. The latter would be no easy task, but with the determination the two had; it would be done in the next few days.
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"...and never did she feel confined by the limited space aboard our ship, the Idenna, but rather called herself privileged to call it home." Onaen'Rit vas Idenna, the devoted husband of the late Nahket'Rit vas Idenna, wept silently behind his mask. The waver in his voice went ignored by the others standing by the ash-excretion port for the deceased quarian woman's death ceremony. There had been a turn out of both the Captain Mal himself and many from the Conclave ship who turned out for what humans call a 'funeral'.
"Nahket had once been a consideration for the Conclave due to her advantageous way of tinkering with not just our adopted technology but also with her way of dealing with an issue from all angles. A quality that had given her many friends, many of which gratefully hold presence here now. Thank you for seeing her off to the Ancestors." Taking his daughter's hand, Onaen blinked away the milky tears from his blue-silver eyes and whispered to his wife one last time, "I love you." Before pressing the discharge button that would expel her ashes into the blackness of surrounding space.
Altaea whispered too as the pressurized expulsion of her mother's remains sounded, only hers held no affection as her father's had. "Nes don palk nar kedos vor Nahket et tasi." Roughly translated to trade-speak meaning, "Never was I the child of a no-one named Nahket." A simple insult that would have been seen unnecessary, but in her mind, Altaea had to reiterate her hatred for the woman who nearly ended her early deliverance from the quarian Flotilla. The woman held no place in Altaea's heart, and her words would carry to the Ancestors as well - they were not her people, anymore.
As the ceremony came to a close, Onaen turned to his daughter and hugged her tightly before drawing a circle in her palm and leaving her standing before the ash-excretion port on the bridge of the Idenna. Those with the Conclave had moved to the Captain's ready-room and that left only Altaea and a few other of her clan standing there, though none spoke to Nahket's only child. Calm was about the area while the few of the Rit clan silently asked their Ancestors to watch over their own parents and/or children - let them not fall to the same fate. How disgusting! Begging the long-since-dead for protection when you cannot provide it for yourself or your loved ones. Pathetic. The thoughts were vicious enough but her facial expression behind her mask held place at a serene look, her lavender eyes a third of the way closed as she peered about the small group that now dispersed.
"I am not of these obsolete people."
Standing just close enough after approaching from her position near the small freight elevator, Mieko brushed her arm 'accidentally' against Altaea's, "We're not of these obsolete people, love." The two gazed at each other and for a moment Altaea felt the closest to being away from the Flotilla as she'd ever remembered, before the intercom system declared that the ship carrying the humans was leaving the landing bay sounded. Coming back down to her frustrating reality, the younger of the two women lowered her head for but a moment, then lifted it to nod quickly at Mieko.
"You talk with Mal, Mieko. I'm going to attempt to get my father to give over any other weapons he might have for my Pilgrimage." The last word was spoken in an acidic tone, "Message me with his answer when you're finished. With any luck I'll be on the trading deck collecting goods for our trip."
Altaea wanted badly to lean in a kiss her lover but found it would be inappropriate due to where they were and completely impossible with their enviro-suit helmets on. She gave Mieko a quick squeeze on the arm that served as a sign of affection and the elder smiled behind her mask, small creases about her almond shape, gray eyes letting Altaea know she would contact her soon enough. "It shouldn't take long to convince him."
Their words had been just loud enough for the two to hear, but in the confined space there was room for error in judgment and a young quarian male at a nearby communication station peered over at Mieko interestedly. "Keep to your station, Vamis." Being a security officer, the man did as he was told, but as she walked past him, Vamis couldn't help but watch her move. The quarian had only been with the Idenna for a few human months but already he'd taken a fondness to Mieko - a creature of his adoration that would never return his affectionate glances or compliments. To her, Vamis was invisible.
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"Captain I was wondering if I might seek audience for a moment." Mieko's naturally sultry tone was hardly hidden by the duality of her air-filtration system, "It concerns my duties on our vessel." The wonderfully fit physic Mieko possessed held position just inside the door of the Captain's ready-room, her gaze holding passively on the Captain only a few feet away behind his station.
Though his features were hard to see behind the misting of his face plate, Mieko could see his black brows furrow with inquiry, "What of your duties, Mieko'Jaa?" Pulling up a service file on the woman, twenty-four in human years, Captain Mal shook his head slowly after a quick scan. "It seems thus far you've served your ship well as a security officer. Aside from the incident during your pre-pilgrimage training years. Have you reconsidered your station aboard our vessel?"
Standing confidently with her hands clasped at her lower back in a resting stance, Mieko spoke to her Captain, "No, Sir. I wish to continue my Pilgrimage." The request was one rarely asked and even more rarely permitted.
Mal blinked at her with a brow raised for a moment, his gaze flashing back and forth between her personnel file and Mieko herself a few times. "Now, why would you want to do that? I remember your gift well, Mieko. A turian FTL engine component for our vessel - something greatly needed at the time."
"Yes, well, I feel that my time away from the Flotilla wasn't properly utilized, Sir. I feel, where I prospered in finding my gift for the Idenna, I was unable to suitably find that knowledge sought beyond our birth vessels. I don't feel as pride fully attached to the Idenna or my family as I'm aware I should." The latter comment was a dangerous one to make, verging on the admittance to being anti-patriotic to the vessel or the race inhabiting it. "I understand I was given a full pardon once before, after gunning down another quarian during training, Captain. And since, I have pushed to find the potential within myself to move beyond my amateur mistake. Now, I ask that the pardon not go unwarranted and I be given the opportunity to greater understand the universe outside our Migrant Fleet so that I might greater long to be part of it."
When Mieko finished speaking the Captain sat back in his chair and tapped his thumb against his thigh, a sign she'd come to know as his way of thinking something over. "Mieko, the request you make is one few have either dared or wanted to ask." Leaning forward again, Mal rested an arm against the edge of his desk, "Do you know the ramifications to requests like these if they are seen as treasonous?"
The woman only nodded curtly, "I am fully aware that there might be consequences for my request. Though I feel that I have a chance to bring both knowledge and possibly another vessel into our Fleet, if only I could be given the opportunity. My husband will understand my longing for knowledge and will dutifully care for our child. I do not feel I was on my Pilgrimage long enough to have taken in the amount of understanding that I should have. I ask you, Sir, as a favor to consider my request pleading."
A stony moment passed in which the Captain stood, his back stalk straight as he examined her stance and then flashed open his omni-tool to press a series of orange, holographic buttons. Another silent minute passed before the omni-tool let out a small series of beeps Mieko recognized to be messages from an exterior source, "It seems that the Conclave feel I'm right in my decision." Twisting his arm and pressing his thumb to a holographic button to close the omni-tool, Mal closed the few foot gap between them and smiled behind his face plate.
"The request is one rarely seen amongst our people, Mieko. But I feel that if one wishes to move forward... - they should be given the opportunity." Any other Captain would have turned down the request almost immediately, but Mal was different in his way of thinking. He was one who firmly and openly believed that progress of the quarian species could be made only if the Conclave and other captains would take the initiative. Mieko's want to better her bank of understanding and even increase the vessel number of the Migrant Fleet showed initiative to the Idenna's captain.
"I've gotten permission to scale down the number aboard to eighty people, mostly necessary crew and security, to search unknown regions of space for an uninhabited home-world or even Reapers. Perhaps you leaving for a second Pilgrimage will serve those who stay behind and furthermore, perhaps help us find a way to control our Ancestors' creations." He paused for a moment before continuing, "A few volus diplomats have made their impatience with our presence known to the Citadel Council but the Conclave doubts they will act, as they are still concerned with re-establishing the Citadel to its original structure status."
Sighing Mal continued, the diplomatic discussion not entirely required but figured to be a useful tid-bit for the departing officer, "Our deal with the volus was that if they gave us a turian cruiser and repair resources, that we would leave their system in the next few days. Keep in mind as you travel on your pilgrimage that the separation of vessels from the Fleet may require you return sooner than you would prefer, but hopefully attack will not befall the Flotilla before you have found what it is you're looking for, Mieko."
Placing a hand on her shoulder in a sign of comfortable Captain-to-security officer affection, Mal smiled and nodded as Mieko's hands tensed excitedly. "Thank you, Sir. And may you find what you're looking for, I only wish that I could be in two places at once and assist your search."
"It would have been nice to have you aboard, Mieko. But if you are to seek out more understanding before being assigned to another ship, you should go say farewell to your family and be ready to board the Leviath within the next few hours." Nodding her thanks once again and parting the Captain's ready-room, Mieko couldn't help but smile in a jester's fashion behind her mask - she would be off the Idenna and away with Altaea within the hour! Such fortune is surely testimate to us one day fulfilling our dream!
The giddiness concealed by her helmet was very much her fashion when thoughts of Altaea were occurring - Mieko was deeply in love with the young girl. So much so that she'd willingly given up her unwanted life aboard the Idenna for a chance to procure a small vessel and live the life of free-agents with her lover. Both being skilled with weapons technology, they were stand-up fighters and though she was young - Altaea was nothing short of an amazing person. With the cunning she possessed, Mieko had no doubts that they'd have their own vessel in as little as a human year.
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The message beeped through Altaea's omni-tool and she could barely contain her glee when she heard her lover's voice exclaim her request's admittance. "We're to leave on the Leviath in an hour's time. I'll be saying goodbye to Varn and Malo then I'll meet you on the trading deck... I love you, Aea." The nickname was something they usually only used when in private, to avoid speculation about their relationship, but the last four words were filled with glee and affection as the message beeped to a finish.
Turning off her glowing, orange and blue omni-tool, Altaea dropped another item into her pack that she knew would gather trade-credits on Omega, their first stop once away from the Idenna and their transport ship.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I wanted this fanfic to be from a fresh point of view in the Mass Effect universe. Altaea is very much the anti-hero whereas Shepard (who I think is better as a girl), was the hero of many other fanfics. I liked the idea of taking a new character and throwing her into a scenario that would expose the Mass Effect universe from a new angle and shed light on how a non-orthodox quarian might be (aside from Golo of course). By the way, their names are pronounced All-tay-ya and Mee-echo. ^_^ But don't get too accustomed to having just Altaea and Mieko about - things will get even more interesting in future chapters, guaranteed! ^_0