Cnasius woke up slowly. Everything hurt. He was staring up at a metal ceiling, but it took some time for his eyes to register what he was seeing. He tried to sit up, and the effort made him groan. He was surprised when someone helped him.
"Oh, oh good, you're, you're awake," the woman, a teal-skinned asari, said. She was frowning, and seemed both nervous and relieved. "I… I was worried you weren't going to make it."
"Who…" Cnasius paused, closing his eyes as his vision swam. He took deep breaths, steadying himself with his hands against the floor. Hand. The turian opened his eyes, looking down at himself. Oh, right, of course. He had lost an arm back there.
"Nyxanis," the asari said. She seemed young, always looking up from a bowed head. "My… my name. It's Nyxanis. Nyxanis T'Leneur. If… if that's what you were going to ask."
"Cnasius," the turian said. "Ramtis. What happened?"
"After… after your friends… left, with the others," Nyxanis said, still bolstering Cnasius's left side, "They blew up the monastery, and… and then a ship came by and… and it, it picked us up."
"What kind of ship?" Cnasius asked, pulling away from the asari. The woman didn't seem to know what to do with her hands after that, but settled for putting them in her lap. She kept her head bowed, glancing to the left constantly as she spoke.
"I… I don't…"
"Batarian pirates," another person said. Cnasius looked up to see a drell woman picking at her teeth, leaning against the wall. There was an energy barrier next to her. She blinked slowly, with both lids, before speaking again. "You would have been luckier to have died, you ask me."
"Who are you?" Cnasius asked.
"Ariidna," the woman replied. "Assassin. Hired by some rival to off the captain of this rig, Tah'hral. Had some bad luck, got I'm stuck in here with you two and sunshine over there."
Cnasius turned to look to the other side of the cell. There was a krogan seated against the wall there. He had his eyes closed. His crest was blue, which struck the turian as odd, but he hadn't seen many krogan without their helmets on before.
"My name is Zrurlok Wrur, drell," the krogan rumbled. He cracked a matching blue eye open. "You're missing half your face, turian."
"I can feel that much," Cnasius said. The blast had taken his left mandible as well as his arm, and it made talking hurt. That half of his face ached worse than anything else, each movement causing a blossom of pain in his jaw.
"Guessin' there's a story behind it," the krogan asked. "Share yours and I'll share mine. Not much else to do in this shithole."
"My unit was betrayed," Cnasius said. "Our Kabalim turned against us. Left me for dead. Would have been, if…"
The turian trailed off, looking at Nyxanis. She still had her hands resolutely in her lap, and looked to the side.
"Why did you save me?" he asked. "The others went with Kabalim and Anlonia, but you…"
"I… I didn't want to… to escape, like they did," the asari said. "I just… I… I don't want to hurt anyone."
"I don't understand," Cnasius said. "Escape? What was that place? A prison?"
"No," Nyxanis said. "No, not… not exactly. It is… it was… a monastery. For… for us. For those… like us."
"Those like you?" the turian pressed. Nyxanis closed her eyes tightly, and when she spoke, it was almost a whisper.
"Ardat-Yakshi," she said. Cnasius opened his mouth as if to speak, but paused. He gave her a long, hard look, then looked back to the krogan.
"So, what's your story?" he asked. Wrur grunted.
"About the same, but not so personal," he said. "I'm part of a group called the Blue Suns. We were hired out by Tah'hral and her goons to do some grunt work. Turns out she meant for us to just be cannon fodder. I was the only one to make it out. Tah'hral didn't pay up, and instead took the goods and claimed we botched the job. Guess it could be worse."
"I don't see how," Ariidna replied.
"We could have been on a slaver instead of a pirate ship," Wrur replied. "Then they'd already have us chipped up and ready for sale to our new batarian masters."
"Well thank Arashu for that," Ariidna shot back, throwing up her hands. "Now all we need is to ask them to pretty please let us go, and they'll just throw the doors wide open and wave us off with a stern warning."
"Don't try my patience, drell," the krogan warned. "Or I'll send you to your gods gladly. You won't have to worry about the batarians then."
"Right, like you could kill me, sunshine," Ariidna replied, rolling her eyes.
"Please, stop," Cnasius asked, attempting to stand. It was difficult without his left arm, but Nyxanis was there to support him as he rose. She stayed on his weak side, acting as a crutch. "My head feels like I got into a headbutting contest with a krogan. No offense."
"Sounded more like a compliment to me," Wrur said, eyes glinting with amusement. "But you'd be bleeding a lot more if you had."
Cnasius chuckled bitterly.
"I wouldn't really know," he said. "You're the first krogan I've met I wasn't trying to kill."
"Give it time," Wrur replied. "I've heard I'm good at getting on people's nerves."
"No kidding…" Ariidna replied, as Nyxanis helped Cnasius up to the forcefield. He studied the energy, reaching out his right hand to touch it with his biotics. The field pushed back against him, forcefully, knocking him and the asari back.
"Only thing that will break through that field is a concentrated biotic field of equal or greater strength, slave," a batarian, clad in bright gold armor, spat as she walked into view. Her skin was a deep, very ruddy brown. She smiled. "And I doubt you're in any condition to produce one, and your asari whore hasn't used hers since we sealed up your wounds."
"Evenin', Captain," Wrur said, standing. The krogan's stance was relaxed, but Cnasius recognized the easy patience of a veteran fighter. It was the same feeling he got watching Salotia and Sercus in action. Captain Tah'hral laughed, an ugly, mangled sound.
"A krogan gentleman, aren't you a riot," she said. She was followed behind by a wrinkled, gray salarian with a small, floating medical tray. A combat drone flew on his other side. The captain herself was escorted by two batarian guards. "The doc here is going to check out your wounds, slave. Make sure they haven't festered. Get in there, Raelian."
The salarian shuffled into the cell as the captain disarmed the field. Nyxanis helped Cnasius sit up as the doctor looked over the cauterized wounds. After some time, the salarian shuffled out again and nodded. Captain Tah'hral resealed the cell, and gave the prisoners a final smile as she left.
"Help me up, Nyxanis," Cnasius said as the hall door closed behind the batarians. The asari did as she was bid, bolstering the turian as he limped over to the wall next to the forcefield. "Please, move aside."
"What are you going to do?" Ariidna asked, but moved anyways. "You'll just kill yourself trying to break the forcefield, and it still won't be enough to save the rest of us. And your little girlfriend won't use her biotics to help-"
Cnasius ignored her, using his biotics to rip away part of the wall.
"Tah'hral thinks she captured a soldier," he said, easing himself in front of the paneling. His eyes scanned the wires and circuits. Satisfied, he nodded, and stood with Nyxanis's help again.
"Didn't she?" Ariidna asked, watching with interest. Cnasius chuckled bitterly again, then used his biotics to rip out some of the circuitry, disabling the energy field.
"No, she caught an engineer," he said. He took a step away from the asari, finding his balance. He limped on his left side, but he could manage. He turned to the others. "Who's ready to get off this shoddy rig?"
"And how exactly are we gonna do that?" Ariidna asked. "We have no weapons, no armor, half a turian and a defunct asari."
"I'll take my chances," Wrur said, stepping away from the wall. "Always liked a man with a quad."
"This isn't bold, it's insane!" Ariidna said. "But I guess I'm just wasting my breath on a krogan."
"I… I think… maybe I should… I should stay… here…" Nyxanis said. Cnasius shook his head, putting a hand on the asari's shoulder. She glanced up at him, then away.
"You're coming with me. I need your help to find Salotia and the others," he said. Nyxanis crossed her arms, biting her lip as she looked at the turian then away.
"Will you... are you going to… to kill them?" she asked. Cnasius's eyes were hard.
"My cabal had a name, and it was Vengeful Spirit," he said. "If I'm alive, then I'll live up to our unit's spirit. I owe them that."
"... alright," Nyxanis said, quietly.
"Well, let's get going if we're going," Ariidna said, storming ahead. "If we're going to do this, it needs to be fast, before they catch on that we're missing."
"She's right," Wrur said, and Cnasius nodded, and followed behind the drell assassin. It was then that the door opened and two batarian guards entered the room. They had barely raised their weapons when Ariidna struck.
She broke one's arm, then used his weapon to shoot the second as he rounded on her. He hit the wall, and she shot him in the head, his face splattering the wall. She then knocked the first one to the ground and dealt with him the same way.
"Pistol's mine, you guys grab whatever's left and follow me," the drell said, moving on. Cnasius took the second batarian's pistol. Wrur took both an assault rifle and a shotgun.
"And she calls me sunshine…" he remarked, but followed after her in any case. Cnasius and Nyxanis came last, the turian doing his best to keep up with his limp. However, Ariidna proved very effective at leaving a clear path for them. They were nearing the escape pods when Captain Tah'hral's voice cracked over the intercom.
"The slaves have escaped! Find them, or I'll skin the lot of you!" she yelled. Ariidna swore, ducking and running. She seemed to glide from one shadow to another, but in the wrong direction.
"Where's she going?" Cnasius asked, but Wrur just shrugged.
"Let's just keep moving, we're almost free," the krogan said. Wrur wasn't as effective as eliminating targets before they spotted the trio, but the krogan still put them down. Hard. Sometimes barreling into them with enough force to crack bones.
They made it to the escape pods, and Cnasius was desperately trying to override the manual lock when they were pinned by a large group of batarians. Captain Tah'hral herself was with them, and she sneered a smile over her men.
"Did you really think you could rely on an assassin?" she asked, hands behind her back. "Or that you could escape? Like that?"
"Worth a shot," Wrur said, weapon at the ready.
"Put it down, slave," Tah'hral said, snarling. Nyxanis was hiding behind Cnasius and shaking. The turian shook his head, then ripped up the control panel with his biotics. "Not another move!"
"That's my line," Ariidna said, from behind the batarian line. She had a red skinned batarian in front of her, pistol pressed to her head.
"Darajul! You stupid girl, how did you manage to get caught?" Tah'hral demanded, eyes blazing. The hostage hissed.
"You think I planned this, mother?" she asked. Tah'hral growled, then turned to her men.
"Stand down! Make room for the cur!" she ordered. The men did as they were bid, albeit hesitantly. Keeping her prisoner close, Ariidna made her way to her fellow escapees.
"Bout time you showed up, drell," Wrur said, as Cnasius worked on the pod release.
"Did I make you worry, sunshine?" Ariidna replied.
"You're all going to pay," Darajul growled. "Once I get free of you-"
"Got it!" Cnasius said, cutting her off as the pod doors hissed open. He ushered Nyxanis in first, then entered after her, and Wrur followed behind.
"Now, release my daughter, slave!" Tah'hral demanded. Ariidna laughed.
"So you can blast the pod once we're far enough? I don't think so," she said, pressing the pistol into Darajul's face. "I'll let her go once I'm safe, with enough credit to contact you with her coordinates."
"You'll regret this, drell," Tah'hral said, glaring as Ariidna and her hostage backed into the pod. The doors shut before the assassin could reply, as Cnasius started up the pod.
"Doubt it," Ariidna said, pushing Darajul into one of the empty seats. The batarian hissed, but strapped in. Ariidna sat across from her, pistol at the ready. Wrur was on her other side, and Nyxanis next to her. It was crowded in the small pod, knees brushing against each other on all sides.
"We're the nearest port?" Cnasius asked.
"Who cares? Set coordinates for Omega," Ariidna replied. "That's where my ship is."
"It's also a good place to disappear," Wrur added. "If a little unwelcoming at first."
"There's an understatement," Ariidna said, rolling her eyes. Cnasius was breathing heavily, too tired to protest. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, his vision was beginning to swim again. The turian barely got the coordinates off before he almost fell out of his seat. Wrur caught him, pushing him up so that Nyxanis could strap him in.
"Great, our pilot's out," Ariidna said.
"Surprised he made it this far," the krogan replied. "Wounds like that, they cut pretty deep."
"What? Got a soft side, sunshine?" Ariidna asked. Wrur growled.
"I was making an assessment," he said. "Kid's not right in the head. Can screw a soldier up more than any physical wound."
"He's not a soldier, remember," Aridina replied, glaring at Darajul. The batarian glared right back.
"He's a turian," the krogan replied. "It's close enough."
"Will… will he be… alright?" Nyxanis asked. Wrur looked at her, considering.
"Yeah. Once he gets patched up, he'll be fine," the krogan said. The asari was watching the turian, like she was unsure what to do to help. Her hand hovered over his, but then withdrew, back to her lap.
"My mother is going to kill all of you," Darajul said.
"Let her try," Ariidna replied, settling in her seat as well as she could. That was the end of conversation in the pod.
