The ground was rough, rocks embedded into what served as a floor. Lilja swallowed a cough, afraid to make too much noise. She didn't want to bring any attention to herself. Any more attention.
Her side still hurt, a bitter sting that had faded into a dull ache as the night passed. She hadn't moved since the kett dumped her back into her cell, and quite frankly she was afraid to, she could still feel the cold surgical like blades against her skin. They poked and prodded her, 'curious as to what set humans apart' they said. One by one she had watched her squad die. There were six of them in the beginning, some of the only soldiers that the Nexus had until the exile. Lilja wasn't even sure how she had ended up among them. She didn't want a revolt. She had just wanted some answers.
Lilja twisted her head, looking to the other side of her cage. They were in a cave, that much she was sure about. And it was cold. She remembered the feel of her fresh sticky blood against her clothes warming her. She lifted a finger, testing her mobility. It hurt, but it wasn't quite so painful now that her broken bones had time to mend. It had been foolish to use her biotics in such a confined space, there was no way they wouldn't catch her, but at the sight of Adain's body…. she'd lost it. She had charged the kett surrounding him, using her nova to kill them quickly. Biotics were her strength, but there were too many kett and she was already exhausted. After they discovered her biotics, the kett did everything they could to keep her from using them again…. And then they wanted to know how she was able to use them. So far, she was lucky enough to have her implant intact. They rattled her, but with enough time for all the bones to mend, and she would still be able to use her biotics to escape. Or at least that's what Kyle said to reassure her. Lilja was almost certain that neither of them were making it out of the kett facility alive.
After testing each finger, she lifted her hand, sliding it from side to side. She twirled her wrist in a circle and then slowly moved her hand up to shoulder level. She pushed, flipping herself onto her back. Lilja gasped sharply, the wounds from her back protested, but she wouldn't learn anything if she continued laying there as if she were already dead. She looked into the cage beside her own, an angara was sitting in the middle of the cage. He was meditating.
Lilja envied him, his calm. She barely managed to contain her anger when she saw the kett. Not that she was strong enough to do anything about it, but that didn't keep her from longing to tear them limb from limb with mass effect fields.
"What are you staring at, human?" the angara spat, eyes opened in narrow slits that glared at Lilja.
She frowned, knowing that he must be one of the Roekaar. The extremists. Part of the reason she ended up in this camp to begin with. They'd been tracking a group of kett, hoping to eliminate them from Kadara, at least that's what Sloane said. Now Lilja was fairly certain that she'd just used her team as a distraction, sacrificing them. Her team was close to stopping the kett when the Roekaar had attacked. They didn't have enough ammo or soldiers to take on them both. The kett were the victors of that skirmish.
Lilja took a shaky breath in, she'd been keeping track of the days, just over three weeks of captivity. The Roekaar seemed unperturbed. The angara were simply used as a work force. Apparently, the kett deemed most of the humans too weak. We couldn't withstand the cold, which left only test subjects. Lilja knew the only reason she was alive was because she had been the only female of the team, and she was the only biotic. A unique test subject.
"How are you so calm?" she asked. There was a good chance he would not respond at all, but her curiosity got the better of her.
"I am not alone, human. My brother and sister Roekaar will come for me," he tilted his head towards her, a sneer on his large pale blue lips, "will your Initiative do the same?"
Lilja grit her teeth, of course not. She was an exile, and Sloane didn't give a shit about anyone but herself. Lilja only wished she knew that before she offered to help. She thought they would be doing something good, fighting the kett, but she knew now that they were simply pawns in Sloane's grab for power. Fucking Kadara Port. Lilja wondered how far she was from Kadara. Had to be in a different system, Kadara was the only inhabited planet in Govorkam, not to mention there wasn't a frozen planet in that system.
She clenched her fists, pushing herself into a sitting position. It was painful, but she managed, a feat she hadn't accomplished in over two weeks. Lilja noticed the angara's eyes soften at her display of pain. What was left of her clothes didn't cover much, and she had enough bruises to rival an angara's coloring. She stared at him, mimicking his tone when she said, "What are you staring at, angara?"
His chest rumbled, a growl she assumed. She turned away, watching as a kett soldier dragged Kyle in and dumped him into the cell, his turn on the dissecting table over. He turned his head away from her eyes. "Probably my last trip," Kyle muttered.
Lilja snapped her head towards him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Means I can't take anymore, Lil."
She clawed herself forward, pressing against the bars between their cells. He was in bad shape, worse than her, if that was possible. "You just need some time to rest," she said, lying to herself. Kyle shook his head, but didn't say anything.
Lilja stared at her hands, her eyes narrowed in focus. Her biotics crackled lightly. Still not strong enough. She sighed. There was no way she could protect him. Lilja bit the inside of her cheek and she pulled her shirt off of her skin, the blood and sweat causing it to cling in certain spots. Lilja longed for a shower, and the thought of clean water made her moan aloud. She didn't feel embarrassed when the angara watched her closely or when Kyle croaked out a laugh. "Pleasuring yourself, Lil?"
She grinned, her split lip reopening painfully. "I thought about water," she admitted, her tongue darting out to lick at the blood on her dry lips.
"Ohh, Lil, no. Don't say that word," Kyle grumbled.
The angara huffed in agreement. She looked over at him, amused that his hatred of humans didn't keep him from their conversation, if only in vague noises. Her smiled died when the door opened, a bright stream of white flowed in behind the kett. The light burned her eyes, which had adjusted to the dark, and she looked down at the floor. They grabbed angara, dragging them from the room. When they approached Kyle's cell, Lilja darted forward. "No! You can't take him! He just got back," she pleaded, "Take me!"
"Don't, Lil," Kyle hissed.
She wrapped her hands around the bars, pressing close. "But you said-"
"I know what I said," he snapped, "now shut up."
She reached for him through the bars and he pushed her back, hissing, "don't draw attention to yourself."
Lilja slumped back in defeat. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes, and as the kett left with their chosen slaves, she let them fall. Her body shook with sobs, the room echoing with her pathetic whimpers as she tried to control herself. It was just her and some racist angara who probably wanted to kill her as much as he wanted to kill the kett.
She wrapped her arms around herself, her breaths ragged and wet with tears that still spilled down her cheeks. They were salty, and the taste mixed bitterly with the iron of her blood. She coughed, her lungs clenching through the strain. When she finally caught her breath, the room was silent. Lilja looked over at the angara. His chest rose and fell in a rhythm, his shoulders wide, and arms at his sides. His legs were bent in a manner that seemed strange to Lilja, but she guessed was the only way they could fold them, considering their shape. "What's your name?"
"What do you care, human?"
Lilja stared at the side of his face, her eyes tracing the colorful ridges. His eyes were still shut, but his brows tugged inward, a sign of his annoyance. Her curiosity egged her on. "How about a name for a name?"
One eye opened and watched her. "What?"
"Lilja," she supplied.
His brows rose to their natural resting place, leaving his face impassive. "Kedh. Now leave me in peace, human."
"Lovely meeting you, Kedh. You're real nice. Must have lots of friends," she drawled, her curiosity unsated.
"Your sarcasm must endear you to other humans, then? Another reason to dislike humans."
Lilja shifted, a wound spreading pain across her side. He clearly wasn't going to talk to her, and she wasn't that much of a masochist to want to keep prodding him. "Great talk," she gritted.
Her eyes fluttered shut, the pain dragging her into an exhausted sleep. The ground didn't provide the sort of bed that left one well-rested, and in the morning Lilja's body ached more than it had the night before. The blood dried, leaving dark splotches to accompany her purplish yellow bruises. Kyle still wasn't in his cell, but some of the other angara returned, along with a new set of captives. Lilja found herself lying across from a new cellmate.
"Good morning," Lilja croaked to the female angara.
"You look worse than an adhi," she muttered back.
"Gee, thanks." Lilja crawled to her knees, staring into Kyle's cell. She saw a couple new angara, but there definitely wasn't anyone human inside the cell. She turned to the cell on her other side, where Kedh still sat. "Have you seen my friend? Have you seen Kyle?"
"Your human has not returned."
Lilja gripped the bars and pressed her face closer. "He has a name! It's Kyle! And if you could conjure more than an ounce of emotion or… or sense then you would know that we humans are not half the threat to you that the kett are! You Roekaar hate us because we're different, but we aren't the ones enslaving your people. We aren't the ones who torture and test people…. break them." Lilja sucked in a breath, she could feel the tears returning and fought desperately to keep them back. "You have no reason to hate us. You don't even know Kyle! Or me! We just wanted to get rid of the kett," Lilja finished in defeat. She let the tears fall again.
"No reason to hate you? I would not be in this cell if it weren't for your team! You humans are-
"Hush, Kedh!" the female angara snapped, "Leave the girl alone, she has suffered enough."
Kedh's chest rumbled in a growl again. "You are too soft, Onsef."
Lilja felt arms wrap around her, a webbed hand pressing against her head and smoothing through her hair. "Rest, human. The kett will return soon and you will need your strength."
Lilja lifted her head to stare into the Onsef's eyes, "What for?"
She smiled, "Just rest."
Lilja nodded, not looking to argue. The feeling of warmth around her was pleasant. It had been so long since someone had cared for her that she didn't even care if the angara hated her, she just didn't want Onsef to stop. Though she had barely been awake ten minutes, Lilja could feel sleep overcoming her again.
xxx
The ground team was almost prepared, and if the reports were correct, Onsef's team had infiltrated the kett compound. It was hidden, and despite searching for months, they hadn't been able to locate it. With the tracker that Onsef had hidden within the lining of her clothes the Roekaar could finally take down the kett cell that had been kidnapping angara from the Govorkam system. The signal led to Weirus in the Rohvir system. It was a cold planet that lacked a breathable atmosphere, a curious place for the kett to set up on, but out of the way. Akksul checked his rifle, watching the men get ready. Though no one could tell, he was nervous - near panic - at the thought of Onsef being in danger. She was his brother's wife, and though few knew it, she was expecting a child. He never would have allowed her to go, but he wasn't able to stop her in time, and she already had the tracking device when she was captured.
He paced the open space of the shuttle, the blizzard causing it to shake unsteadily. Akksul checked his extra ammo, before sliding another pistol into a holster on his hip.
"ETA ten minutes," the pilot called out.
Akksul narrowed his eyes, staring out the window. Through a blur of white, he could spot blinking red lights. The landing pad. He would see Onsef soon, and ensure that she was safe.
xxx
Voices brought her out of the darkness, sharp hushed sounds.
"And what of the human?"
"We take her with us, Kavfa," Onsef hissed.
Kedh scoffed. "She will only slow us down."
Lilja rolled onto her back, but kept her eyes shut. She could hear the doors to the outside open, and she cringed, whatever plan they had, it was going down soon. The sound of kett footfalls echoed in the cave, and she heard a cell door creak. A body dropped to the floor and Lilja's eyes snapped open. "Kyle?"
She crawled towards him, "Kyle, are you okay?"
His head tilted towards her. "I'm alive, at least."
Lilja was trying to think of something positive to say when an explosion shook through the cave. Kett poured in from the outside, shouting in their native tongue. A blast from a kett rifle shot the lock off her cell door and Onsef shot to her feet. "Get up, human. We're leaving."
Lilja struggled to her feet. "I'm not leaving without Kyle."
Onsef looked from Lilja to the human laying on the floor. He was near death, that much was plain to see, but Lilja was stubborn enough to stay and die if it meant that he wouldn't be left alone. Onsef sighed. "Come quickly then."
Another explosion threw Lilja against the side of her cell, and pain exploded across her vision, blurring everything. The dust from the cave created a sort of smog-like cover for the Roekaar to hide in as the pushed deeper into the base. Lilja gripped blindly, scrambling to help Kyle out of his cell. When they were both on their feet, Lilja felt angara hands grip her, pushing her forward faster than her legs could carry her. She stumbled, leaning against angara for support. He grunted, but kept guiding her towards the exit. They had to get to the landing pad to escape, if they went into the outside without suits the cold would freeze them if the atmosphere did not choke them to death first.
She could hear Kyle's groans though she could barely see him, and she knew his wounds must be hurting. "We need to stop, he needs rest. He can't keep going like this!" Lilja shouted, at the Roekaar.
"We will not wait for you humans. If you want freedom it is now, or never."
Lilja nodded, she wrapped Kyle's arm around her neck and lifted as much of his weight as her body would allow. It was slow moving, but she hadn't left him and that's what mattered to her. Another explosion tossed them to the ground. Onsef rushed back, followed by an unfamiliar face. He looked enraged, but he focused his anger on the kett that were following them down the hall.
Onsef rolled from cover, moving to help her fellow angara up. Beside Lilja, Kyle wasn't moving. His body lay limp in the center of the hall.. Lilja pushed herself up, moving closer to him. "Kyle," she whimpered, shaking his arm. "Kyle! Get up!"
"He's dead. We need to go," Kedh shouted at her.
He grabbed her by the wrist and she tried to brush him away, but the angara's strength far outweighed her own. Lilja ran, hoping to keep her rising emotions at bay. Their retreat was hindered by another wave of kett that flanked them from the right. Lilja ducked behind a crate. She needed a weapon to be of any help. She looked around, seeing a dead kett just a little further down the hall.
She darted out from behind the kett, bolting to the rifle, she grabbed it and somersaulted into new cover. The kett weapon felt strange in her hand, but it was just as effective as her own assault rifle. She aimed at the kett closest to Onsef, allowing them more time to get the injured to safety. When a glance behind her showed more kett coming, Lilja panicked. The other angara hurried to reload, but she could tell he wouldn't be fast enough. Lilja spun around, facing the kett. She thrust her hands upward, her biotics flaring to life.
Her barrier expanded, covering all of the wounded, herself, and the angara across the hall. "Onsef, RUN!"
Lilja struggled to sustain her barrier, it was one of the largest she'd created, and she could feel the wound on her side tearing open as she held her arms above her head. When she was certain that all the prisoners had escaped down the hall she summoned the last of her strength, pushing outward. The shockwave knocked all the kett back, sending some of them flying. Lilja collapsed to the ground, the blue of her biotics fading as she fell unconscious.
xxx
Akksul gripped his rifle tightly, they were almost back at the landing pad. Almost to safety. Then he could shoot Onsef. What had she been thinking?! Did she not care for her own safety?! A hand clamped onto Akksul's arm and he spun around, prepared to strike.
It was Onsef.
"What is it?" Akksul grunted. Onsef looked panicked, and it made his heart rate skyrocket.
"She's not here!"
Akksul furrowed his brow. "Who?"
"The human! Lilja. She saved me, she saved all of us. We must go back for her!" Onsef shouted over the sound of gunfire.
She turned towards the way they came and Akksul shook his head, his hand darting out to catch her. "NO. You lead them to the shuttle. If we must take this human, then send someone else for her. You must stay safe."
"Akksul," she pleaded.
He groaned, the sound low and menacing, but he turned back nonetheless. Onsef was always soft on aliens, a trait he did not relish, but he would not risk his brother's wife. Or their unborn child. Akksul took off at a jog, seeing the limp human form huddled on the ground. When he lifted her she whimpered, curling in on herself. His armor was stained with blood, fresh human blood. He clenched his jaw, another reason to hate the kett. This human was small, feeble, what good was she as labor? They were sick monsters, attacking anyone they could get their claws on.
He heaved her body over his shoulder, one arm holding her, while he held a pistol in the other hand. He quickly made his way back down the hall, nodded to Kedh and Paavel who were standing guard by the doors. They followed in after him, and Akksul shouted for everyone to get onto the shuttle. His eyes scanned the passengers, settling on Onsef. He brushed past people, moving to stand in front of her. There he placed the human down, letting her rest against the wall. "There. Your human."
Onsef smiled up at him, "Thank you, tavetaan."
Akksul frowned, staring down at the human. It was dirty, covered in wounds and bruises, and unconscious. Though he didn't recoil at the sight of it, like with kett, he was unhappy that everyone was put at risk to rescue it. "You are responsible for it," he replied gruffly.
Onsef was unoffended by Akksul's brusk words. "Not 'it', Akksul, but 'she'. This human risked her life to save all of us, you should be more grateful."
Akksul scoffed, turning his back to Onsef and the human. The thought of being grateful to an alien was preposterous, and he had more important things to take care of at the moment. The shuttle shifted in the storm winds, but the made it off the planet safely. They needed to make three stops, the first at Kadara Port to refuel, and check in on the two Roekaar cells. He'd gotten work from his contact there that one of the cells had gone rogue. They were studying some form of human disease that did not affect the angara. Akksul was not comfortable with torturing the species, if the Roekaar were to kill them, it should be a swift death. He would not become like the kett.
A/N: Shelesh is the angaran language, which is where I got all the words from, and the kett language is Toniazhet...annnnnd I totally made up most of the words.
