Chapter 4 – Hostiles
The Tarmeena lurched violently at the sudden acceleration from the mass relay, the ship appearing to stretch absurdly in length for a moment before shooting into the void in a haze of brilliant blue energy. The abrupt increase in velocity still managed to catch Tali'Zorah off guard, provoking an involuntary pained gasp as she felt her body strain against the bracing straps of her seat. The modified freighter creaked and groaned alarmingly, shuddering as a result of the great strain it was under; Tali, and indeed the rest of the passengers, found themselves praying it wouldn't disintegrate mid-transit. Fortunately the ship held together, bursting back into normal space at the corresponding 'sister' relay in the Omega system mere seconds after mass travel had been initiated. The equally sudden deceleration flung Tali's body in the opposite direction, her helmet bashing against the brace's padded arms with such force she felt her teeth rattle.
"Keelah…" she groaned, sinking down into her seat and thanking the ancestors it was over.
"First time through a relay in a small ship?" asked her seatmate who seemed remarkably unperturbed by the experience.
"Yes, and hopefully the last." Tali muttered darkly.
"I've done it a couple of times before," he revealed, "the trick is to try and relax; you go tense and you can tear a muscle."
"Thanks," she groaned softly as she undid her harness, "I'll try to remember that in future."
"I guess I should have mentioned that before we jumped huh?" He remarked, a twinge of embarrassment in his tone.
Tali shrugged, and promptly wished she hadn't. "I know for next time at least. You said you've done this before, so…you didn't serve on the Rayya?" she asked, surprised.
"I was born on the Neema," he confided quietly, "they shipped me over to the Rayya early this morning. I was our ship's only pilgrim this time around and Admiral Gerrel didn't see the use in burning resources sending a whole ship out just for me."
"So they put you on the Rayya's roster." Tali deduced. I guess that explains his accent. "You didn't mind?"
He shook his head. "What was there to mind? It made perfect logistical sense and it saved me a lonely flight with just a pilot for company."
Sarel'Geta's voice momentarily cut off further conversation. "This is your pilot again, we've successfully jumped to Omega and we should be back on course in just a few moments. As you probably know we're headed to the Narcissus system which is on the far side of Omega, we'll have cruiser escort as far as Imorkan and then we'll be on our own while the Norath takes the rest of the transports within range of their various destinations."
The quarian convoy was few enough in number that they had managed to jump through the relay together, resulting in a perfectly preserved formation as they re-entered normal space, though as often happened, the relatively imprecise nature of relay travel had resulted in them being a few hundred kilometers off course. It was a strange experience for Tali; not only had she been aboard the Rayya for each of her previous encounters with a relay jump, a relatively comfortable experience due to the ship's artificial gravity generators, but the Rayya only entered relays with the rest of the fleet, an act that could take weeks due to the sheer volume of ships. Aboard the Tarmeena the jump may have been rough but at least it was over almost as soon as it began.
Time passed slowly as the convoy made their way through the system, the pilgrims struggling to keep themselves amused; most opted to sleep, while others recorded private messages to send to family and friends back on the flotilla. Tali spent much of the time in the cockpit, examining the various systems, components and maintenance subroutines that powered the ship. While Sarel'Geta wouldn't allow her to modify anything, a wise precaution given the fact that he knew little about her capabilities, he was happy to let her examine the ship and Tali was only too keen to garner what knowledge she could. Unfortunately, like the outside of the Tarmeena the internal components were quite old and unremarkable. She'd absorbed any information she cared to retain about them within hours, dozens of ideas about how she'd improve it running through her mind the more she read, making it all the more irritable that she couldn't. She supposed that, given the sudden switch of transports the flight crew hadn't had time to fully optimize the Tarmeena before launch; then again, even with just the internal systems she could see at least four separate, very simple modifications that could have been programmed inside of an hour which would have given the ship almost double its current output.
Sighing, she pushed herself away from the co-pilot's console.
"Found something else you want to change?" asked the Flying Officer with a chuckle, glancing back at her from his worn pilot's chair.
"It is frustrating." Tali admitted.
"Believe me I'd be more than happy for you to modify this old bucket a bit, might actually give me some enjoyment flying her. But," he murmured, checking their position on the scope, "regs are regs."
"You didn't seem too concerned about regulations just before we jumped." Tali remarked, spinning the chair to face him.
Sarel didn't look up. "Yeah, well. There's a bit of a difference between giving someone five minutes on the comm and giving them permission to optimize systems mid flight, especially with other passengers and crew aboard."
Tali cocked her head to one side and back again, an unconscious gesture of deference or acknowledgement. "True." Hopping out of the chair she leaned over his shoulder, examining the display for herself. "How's our formation holding?"
"Pretty well." The pilot responded, his abruptly brighter tone betraying that he was glad to be back to safer subjects. "All nine transports are in staggered formation around the cruiser, gives us plenty of breathing space and if we were ever attacked, most of us should have the cruiser's armour plating between us and them."
"And if we're the ones in front of the attackers?" asked Tali, staring at the 10 green dots on screen as they steadily pulsed their locations within the convoy.
"The Norath's GARDIAN lasers should be able to lay down adequate cover fire while we slip around under or above her into what's effectively the "dark side of the moon" as far as the enemy would be concerned."
"We wouldn't get in the way of the Norath's fire lines?" she asked questioningly.
Sarel shook his head with a smile. "Nah, those lasers are pinpoint, there's no way they'd hit a ship tagged with a friendly IFF."
Tali was about to sit down again and leave the young Flying Officer to his piloting when two red spots appeared out of nowhere on the scope. "Those don't look friendly."
Sarel's head snapped around at her words and his body imperceptibly tensed when her caught sight of the anomalies. "That's because they're not." he replied, his voice suddenly strained. Tali quietly backed away, settling herself in her chair once more and tapping away on her console while Sarel brought them out of autopilot. Bringing up a copy of the scope she magnified the outlines of the hostile ships, shaking her head in amazement at their audacity when the Tarmeena's aging ship identification system eventually tagged them as small, two man fighters, a fact she had already deduced due to their small size.
A deep male voice cut into the cockpit, heavy with static. "Attention all ships, this is the Norath. We have potential hostile contact at grid location One-Two-Zero by Five Three Zero; all ships are to take up defensive position on the Norath's port side immediately. Maintain a distance of at least 15 kilometers between each vessel. We will contact you when we have more information, Norath out."
Sarel'Geta hadn't even waited for the comms officer to finish speaking, banking the Tarmeena hard to port as soon as he'd received the order. Keying his own comm the Flying Officer's voice penetrated the rest of the ship. "Um, sorry to disturb you back there folks but I'd appreciate it if you all strapped in. We've got a few armed vessels nearby, nothing serious but the Norath wants us ready just in case."
To his credit the Flying Officer's voice was calm, but he could not hide the slight waver of fear. Down in the hold the pilgrims stopped what they were doing, whispers of surprise and panic spreading as they followed his instructions, a palpable sense of apprehension rippling through them.
Silently watching as Sarel flicked the comm off and focused on his piloting, Tali herself felt little beyond a slight twinge of anticipation; nobody, no matter how violent Omega space was, would be stupid enough to engage a military cruiser for the sake of a few quarian pilgrims, the very notion was absurd. As if to prove her point the Norath's comms officer transmitted through Sarel's radio a few moments later. "All ships, this is the Norath. Armed vessels are falling back, standby to receive orders to resume formation. Norath out."
Sarel slumped back slightly in his seat. "Crisis over." He whispered softly to himself before abruptly straightening and hitting the comm to the hold once more, again sounding more like the calm professional than the scared young Flying Officer that he had been mere moments before. "Well folks you can all relax back there now, it looks like the ships have taken the hint and took off. I apologise for any panic, let me assure you we weren't in any danger. Unfortunately this is Omega; you're bound to get idiots who think they can stand up to the full might of a military cruiser." Sarel paused to clear his throat, shaking his head at the scope where the two fighters had been. "Anyway, we should make headway to the next nav-point in just a few hours, be right on Omega's doorstep once we do."
A few more hours passed without event, Tali's attention now turning to the local star map which Sarel'Geta was only too willing to explain the basics of. "We're pretty easy to spot," he said, pointing to the soft glow of the green arrow that indicated their position, "and the planets are pretty self-explanatory, at this zoom all you can see are their names but if you tap them…like this…you'll get a quick description of their stats and what basics we know of them."
Tali watched as a small text panel for the planet Bindur appeared on screen.
"It's not much," continued Sarel, indicating the pitifully small paragraph, "but then, Bindur is a backwater really."
"You seem to know quite a bit about this system, did you come here on your Pilgrimage?"
Sarel snorted. "Pilgrimage? On Omega? Keelah no, no way would I come here by choice. I just make a point of reading up on my next destination."
"Is it really that bad?" Tali asked. "Omega I mean."
He sat back in his chair and nodded slowly. "You hear stories, when you're on Pilgrimage…and they weren't exactly the kind you'd tell your kids at night."
She mulled this over for a bit before turning her attention back to the star map. "So according to this, we should be passing by it in a few minutes right?" She zoomed in on their next waypoint, prompting the appearance of a small timer. "22 minutes to be exact?"
"So long as you trust that thing, yeah; personally I've seen them get it wrong so many times I gave up on it long ago."
The engineer nodded knowingly. "Computers huh?"
"Yeah, maybe one day they'll finally make one that can estimate accurately."
A soft bleeping from the star map caught Tali's attention. "Uh-oh, more red dots."
Sarel glanced at his scope and straightened slowly in his seat. "Probably just more fighters coming to get scared off by the cruiser." His hand reached for the comm and abruptly froze in mid-air. "Holy…"
Tali magnified the star map and immediately saw what he meant. The two red dots they'd seen earlier would have been a welcome sight compared to the six, no, seven blips that swarmed threateningly near their position. The pilot unfroze and immediately grabbed the controls, swinging the ship up with a maneuverability that belied its appearance. Tali found herself inexplicitly keying the comm in his stead.
"Hey guys, better get seated, fast. We've got hostiles on scanner again and this time they don't look like the type to back down."
"Thanks." Geta called over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off his instruments.
"Yeah." Tali replied uncertainly as she flicked the speaker off, still unsure where the instinct to warn the rest of the passengers had come from. Examining the star map once more she magnified their position and watched as the Tarmeena and the other transports hastily changed formation, putting the Norath and her guns between them and the attackers. To say there was no audible communication between the ships they moved together almost flawlessly, slipping into their positions as if operating as one mind.
Catching sight of tiny red streaks emitting from the enemy ships, Tali dragged the map over to them with the tip of her finger and gasped in surprise. Those couldn't possibly be…
"What?" demanded Sarel, quickly searching his own scope.
"I…I think those are missiles." Tali said, stunned that the hostiles were daring to fire on a military cruiser that vastly outgunned their own tiny fighters. It can't be, surely. This ancient equipment has to be reading it wrong. Suddenly the door to the cockpit slid open with a groan, making both quarians jump in their seats and spin to face the intruder.
To her astonishment Tali recognized the tall quarian she had been conversing with back in the hold. He glanced around the cockpit and spotted Tali at the co-pilot's console. "I'm going to need you to move. Now." All previous traces of civility in his voice were gone, politeness replaced by steely inflection.
Tali just stared blankly at him, amazed at his nerve; even Sarel seemed taken aback.
"Just who the hell do you think you are?" The Flying Officer asked angrily.
The red-suited quarian fixed him with a stare. "Naval Lieutenant Ren'Gerrel nar Neema and unless you have some actual military experience I'm pulling rank, Flying Officer."
If Tali were to guess, she'd have said Sarel's mouth was hanging open under his helmet.
"Uh y-yes Sir." stammered the young pilot, promptly switching his attention back to his displays to escape his new superior's wrath.
Tali had already vacated her seat upon revelation of his rank, standing aside as the Lieutenant swung himself into the station and set about examining the co-pilot's displays. Tali took up a position behind the two, standing with a slight hunch in the cramped cockpit, her hand gripping the synthetic leather 'hooks' that dangled from the ceiling to steady herself. The engineer found herself reluctant to leave the cabin, needing to see what was on the screens, to know what was going on; going back to the hold to be deaf and blind like the rest of them was unfathomable. She couldn't explain why she felt that way, common sense told her she should be scared, terrified even; in truth she was but it was hidden away deep on some other level, overridden by an inexplicable air of…anticipation that saturated the entire cabin, so strong she could almost taste it. Tali hovered behind the Lieutenant, watching as he assumed command as though he'd been there the whole time.
"Ok, seven short range fighters, standard cluster formation." He scrolled the map with practiced ease, stabbing at various commands that Tali hadn't dared touch. "Missiles loose, tracking…one per ship, should be easy pickings for the Norath's GARDIAN system." He leant forward slightly in his seat, muttering to himself. "Ibelin's out of position by a few dozen meters…shouldn't put her at risk. Have we heard anything from the Norath?"
"I think she's been too busy responding to the threat sir." Sarel volunteered.
The quarian known as Ren nodded. "Those missiles are trying to slip under the Norath's belly; bring us up a few notches Mr Geta, let's make sure we're well out of their way." the quiet professionalism in his voice seeming to bring a measure of calm to the Flying Officer.
"Aye, aye sir." responded the pilot, gently thrusting the ship upwards and causing Tali to spread her legs wide for balance.
Ren examined his displays again. "All missiles are off the scope, guess the cruiser cleaned 'em up, along with five of their fighters." He paused briefly. "And there goes the last two, all fighters down."
"So we're safe, it's over?" asked Tali, unsure if she was disappointed or relieved. It had ended so quickly; some strange part of her wanted more, wanted to have some other part in this than that of a spectator, even as her head told her to be grateful they'd all gotten through unscathed.
The Lieutenant relaxed slightly and turned his chair to face her. "I think so, yes." His voice was softer now, the same as when they'd first spoken. "I apologise if I seemed rude before, when I heard you over the comm rather than the pilot I knew things must have been pretty serious." He turned his head to acknowledge Sarel. "I guess once I saw what was going on my military training took over. I-"
His words were cut off by a dull thud that resonated throughout the ship. Tarmeena lurched violently and with such force that Tali was sent sprawling against the consoles, the unyielding metal edge slamming painfully into her abdomen. Even Sarel and Ren, despite being seated, were wrenched about by the motion. Klaxon blared and an automatic door slid shut behind them, sealing the trio in the cabin. Brya was the first to recover, his voice back to its unnerving steadiness.
"Missile impact in the hold, port side, torn clean through the hull. Atmospheric pressure has been preserved in the cabin but we've lost it throughout the rest of the ship."
Tali picked herself up, clutching one of the overhead hooks and struggling to process what she was hearing. We've been hit?
Sarel tightened his grip around the stick, flicking off the piercing klaxon with his free hand while a myriad beeping warning lights from the consoles reflected off the dark glass of his visor.
"Electrical fire in engine 2, shutting it down and activating emergency contamination routines." continued Ren, his hands flying across the keys in front of him like he'd been there all his life.
Tali felt useless, standing there clutching her bruised ribs watching the two professionals attempt to salvage their ship.
Her eyes strayed to scanning the plasti-glass viewscreen of the cockpit in a vain attempt to spot their attackers against the backdrop of space. I thought they were gone, destroyed. She remembered watching over the Lieutenant's shoulder as the two red blips had abruptly disappeared off the scope. He said they had been killed, so how had they managed to come back from the dead and get around the Norath so fast? Had he been wrong? Why hadn't the cruiser's GARDIAN systems destroyed their ordanance? A much more chilling thought penetrated her web of panic. Keelah…would they fire again? The Tarmeena was a civilian vessel and an old one at that, it was a miracle she'd survived one hit, a second would surely vaporize what was left of her. Tali felt her skin crawl, her heart hammering rapidly in her chest; never had she been so afraid. I can't die out here, I can't. Faces flashed in front of her eyes: her mother, her father, Bardi, Naria and auntie Raan. I can't die!
Ren's words jarred her out of her thoughts.
"Maneuverability down 60%, FTL system is down and navigation is shot." He reported grimly. "Fire's still going in engine 2, now at risk of spreading to fuel lines."
Her aunt's words echoed in her head. He has already lost your mother little one, think what losing you would do to him. Tali forced herself to look away from the viewscreen, concentrating on the fire icon resonating on the Lieutenant's display. He won't lose me auntie Raan, I won't let it happen!
Ordinary procedure dictated that fires be exposed to the vacuum, as fires relied on oxygen to keep burning; this was normally an effective way of combating them provided it did not put personnel at risk. In this case however, it hadn't worked, probably due to the fire being electrical in nature. That's it!
"Shut down the power to the engine!" Tali cried.
Ren didn't even look away from the console. "What?"
"Engine 2; if the fire's electrical, shutting down the power should extinguish it before the fuel lines go up!"
"She's right," chimed in Geta, wrenching the control yoke in an attempt to keep the stricken ship level, "basic engineering practice."
Ren scrambled out of the chair, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. Tali wasted no time hopping into the freshly vacated seat, her fingers fairly gliding over the keys. "Shutting down engine 2 and re-routing power to engine 1…diverting excess energy to the stabilizers." Numerous lights on the console winked from red to green. "There! The fire's out, fuel lines preserved." She rotated slightly in her seat, turning to the Flying Officer. "She should be a bit easier to handle now too."
Sarel nodded, not taking his eyes from his screens. "I can keep her level, but not for long; structural damage is too high, we stay out here much longer the ship'll split apart under its own inertia."
Ren'Gerrel, powerful frame dominating the cabin, stared at the back of Geta's helmet. "The only place within range is-"
"Omega or the cruiser," the pilot finished for him grimly, "I know.
Tali scanned the console, a steadily pulsing light catching her eye; she examined the label and quickly activated it, causing the cabin's comm to erupt with voices. "Attention Tarmeena, this is the Norath, acknowledge, over." Sarel nearly sent them into a spin reaching for the comm. "Acknowledged Norath, this is the Tarmeena, we're still here, over."
There was an audible pause on the other end before the comms officer responded, a distinct relief in his tone. "Roger Tarmeena, good to hear you, we thought we'd lost you there."
Sarel's eyes narrowed as he focused on his instruments. "So did we Norath. Our scope's a bit skittish over here, you mind reassuring me that we're not going to get hit again?"
"Affirmative Tarmeena, you're clear. All hostiles neutralized." There was a pause then his voice came back, heavy with regret. "They caught us by surprise, came from the ice cloud to starboard. We thought between the shields and the GARDIAN network we'd gotten all the missiles but one must have slipped though."
"I hadn't noticed." Ren muttered darkly.
The Flying Officer shot him a glance, though Tali couldn't tell if it was a subtle, unofficial rebuke or an acknowledgement. "Roger that Norath, we've had a breach in the hold, it's depressurized and we're barely holding together now; can you give us a visual on the damage from there?"
"Standby Tarmeena."
Seconds went by then Tali's screen switched to a close up of the Tarmeena's exterior, taken directly from the Norath's hull cams.
Tali felt her hand fly to her mouth involuntarily. "Keelah…" Sarel leaned in closer for a better view as if disbelieving the image and even Ren froze.
"That's…us?" Tali whispered, as if questioning it would suddenly cause the ship to fall apart.
Ren shook his head in quiet amazement.
"How in the hell are we still flying?" Geta breathed.
A gaping hole existed where the bulbous hold of the ship had once been. Girders of scorched metal protruded into the cavity, twisted and malformed. Particles of what was once the hull drifted steadily into space, pirouetting freely while distant stars winked at them through the other side of the ship, mocking their existence. Tali froze as the Norath's cam rotated and she caught a glimpse of what remained of the passenger seats. The other pilgrims had still been in there. Keelah, how have I not thought of them before! She tried to speak but her throat suddenly constricted at the sight of the very same chair she had been seated in only a few hours ago. Standing empty at the very edge of the hole, the chair had been seared black and shorn in two by the impact of the missile. I could be dead right now. The thought was too much to comprehend and she sank back in her seat wordlessly.
"Tarmeena, we're not seeing movement in the hold; do you have survivors onboard, over?"
Sarel didn't respond.
"Tarmeena?"
Ren hit the comm. "Confirmed Norath, two survivors, both in the cockpit."
"Good to hear Tarmeena, we're scanning the debris for other survivors now, please hold."
Tali couldn't bear to watch any longer and turned to face Ren, arms wrapped tightly across her midsection for comfort. "C-couldn't there be more of us? I mean…these suits have oxygen supplies, they could still be out there, sucked into space…right?"
Sarel tore his eyes from the screen and glanced wordlessly at her before busying himself with his instruments once again. The young engineer searched Ren's visor for a response, watching the faint outlines of his dark eyes flicker uncertainly. Finally, he slowly shook his head. "Most will have been killed outright by the blast." He spoke gently, his voice tinged by his own grief. "There could be some that were vacuumed, but the chances of them being without a breach in their suit from the explosion and debris are…minimal at best." Tali looked away, too overcome to speak.
"Norath here, we're currently retrieving two possible survivors from amongst the wreckage, too early to tell if they're alive or not."
"We copy Norath." Sarel responded quietly.
The Lieutenant drew his attention away from the recording just as a shudder ran through the ship, filling the cabin with the screeching groan of metal on metal.
Tali felt a chill run up her spine, terrified that Sarel'Geta's earlier predictions might prove true and the ship really would break apart; to his credit, the young pilot didn't take his eyes from his flying.
Ren braced his hand against the wall to steady himself. "You weren't kidding when you said we wouldn't last much longer, we need to get this thing grounded. Now."
Gulping audibly, the young Flying Officer nodded nervously from his controls. "Ah-attention Norath, we're, ah, we're plotting a course for Omega to make an emergency landing."
The Norath's officer came back, his voice laced with doubt. "Suggest docking with the cruiser, over."
"Negative Norath, I have very little control over the ship." Replied Geta, firmly. "It's going to be tough enough keeping us in a straight line to Omega, no way I can attempt to dock with you, over."
"Copy that Tarmeena, we'll fly over-watch and make sure you have plenty of room, out."
"Good call." Ren remarked. "Docking with a ship like that is always a tricky business, no way you're pulling it off with maneuverability this bad."
Sarel nodded. "I just hope Omega has a more simplistic docking bay."
Ren snorted. "Omega? I'd be surprised if it had anything more sophisticated than a strip of metal poking out of its hide."
"With the way this thing's handling that's exactly what I hope they have."
Tense minutes slowly ticked by as they edged ever closer to the space station, the asteroid-turned-city orbiting ominously in a ring of deadly rock. "How are we going to fly through that?" Tali'Zorah asked, "I thought you said we could barely fly straight."
"Better comm the Norath," added Gerrel, "ask for them to fly broadside and have their kinetic barriers deflect the asteroids from us."
Sarel swiftly did so and the cruiser accelerated in response, taking up a position less than 15 kilometers from what was left of Tarmeena's port flank.
"Not so close…" Geta whispered tersely.
"The closer the better," Ren countered, "less space for something to deflect into us."
"Still doesn't make me feel any better." Tali muttered, thankful that the viewscreen only presented them with whatever happened to be in front; she didn't think she could handle being able to physically see the massive quarian cruiser flying steadily alongside them.
Silence enveloped the cockpit once more, neither the Lieutenant nor the engineer willing to risk disturbing the pilot's concentration. Tali had to fight the urge to pace but didn't dare move for fear of upsetting anything within the ship. Sarel sat straight as a ramrod in the pilot's seat, gripping the controls so tightly she thought he might break something. It was all down to the young quarian now, all their lives rested in his hands and it looked like he was uncomfortably aware of it. Ren looked the exact opposite, almost relaxed, knees slightly bent to accommodate his tall figure in the cramped cabin. If it wasn't for the fact that his eyes were closed behind his faceplate, the dim light that reflected onto his visor extinguished, Tali would have said he was impossible to unsteady.
They entered the asteroid field then, the Norath's length and bulk shielding them from the deadly hunks of rock that spun and twisted all around them. Any projectiles on the starboard side of the Tarmeena that looked even remotely threatening were expertly shattered into dust by the cruiser's GARDIAN turrets, the Gunnery Officer clearly working overtime to designate the rocks as 'hostile', possibly an attempt at retribution for his earlier mistake regarding the missile that had gutted the transport. Omega lay in the distance, easily identifiable thanks to its hollowed out core that housed a criminal underworld like no other. A single spire descended out of the centre, easily doubling the length of the station; it was surrounded by tendril-like spines that stuck out into space, remnants of the old mining operations that used to dominate local space.
"I really hope they open those docking bay doors soon…" Sarel murmured, making minor adjustments to their course while glancing nervously at the giant asteroid city that loomed in from of them, its mass beginning to fill the viewport. So far there had been few signs of life, with a small number of ships coming and going from the glowing red 'tendrils' that protruded from the city's base. Quite where they had come from Tali couldn't tell, all she knew was that the part of Omega they were approaching looked very devoid of landing bays. They drifted ever closer, tension rising in the cabin as they each realized that pretty soon they wouldn't be able to avoid a collision.
Suddenly, when they were only a few hundred kilometers out a gap appeared in the wall of rock ahead of them, widening to show a small, very spartan landing bay tucked away behind, the exact simple metal strip Geta had wished for.
"Thank you ancestors." Tali whispered, relief washing through her at the welcome sight.
"All clear Tarmeena, they're opening the doors directly ahead of you. Recommend minor course adjustment to heading 342.128." confirmed Norath finally.
"Adjusting," responded Sarel, "mind if I ask how you managed to convince them to let us land Norath?"
"Threatened to blow a hole open for you instead."
The comms officer almost sounded amused. Lieutenant Gerrel snorted appreciatively.
"Copy Norath, our thanks." Sarel didn't take his eyes from the viewscreen as he spoke. "Don't relax just yet you two, this is where it gets difficult."
Tali immediately felt the tension surge again in response and she reached to make sure her seat's straps were secure. Behind her, Ren wrapped his hands tightly around the synthetic leather roof hooks and spread his legs wide, dropping into a crouch to absorb the inevitable impact.
The landing bay doors hung open invitingly, a small crew of firefighters with rusty equipment standing ready to receive them behind the station's atmospheric shielding; Tali noticed they stood well back but decided it was better not to mention it. Omega grew at an alarming rate, the edges of the asteroid disappearing from the viewport; seconds later and the only thing they could see was the docking bay, energy fields flickering with an uncertainty that mirrored Tali's own. "This is it guys, hang on tight!" cried Sarel as he applied the deceleration thrusters, the sudden shift in motion gently shunting them back in their seats.
"Aren't we going a little fast?" Ren remarked, the first traces of worry showing in his voice.
"I'm working on it!" Sarel shot back, nimble fingers flying over his console.
Tali felt the ship slow even further in response but the docking bay still zoomed towards them at an alarming rate, the fire crews scattering as they collectively seemed to come to the conclusion that 200 yards was far too close.
The prow of the Tarmeena flickered as she punctured the energy shield, then the entire viewport filled with the blue haze as it washed over the battered freighter. Alarms abruptly began to sound all over the cabin as the ship re-entered an atmosphere and Geta ignored each and every one of them. He keyed in other controls with his left hand, pulling back on the yoke with his right; the ship groaned in protest, screeched as another burst from the deceleration thrusters arrested her flight. Tarmeena slowed yet again, a shudder rumbling through the ship as something detached itself from the rear. Sarel pulled even harder on the yoke and the freighter dropped like a stone in response, eating up the few metres of space until it hit the deck with a heavy clang. Metal squealed and sparks flew as she scraped across the ground; inside the cockpit the three quarians shook from the impact, Tali and Sarel juddering in their seats as metal ground itself to shards beneath their feet.
Sarel hit every brake he could find and put all his weight into lifting the nose of the stricken craft, praying he'd keep the tail from rising and the ship from tumbling end over end. Tali could feel Tarmeena slowing, the shattered remains of the vessel nearing the end of the landing bay and risking pulverizing them against the solid walls of the room. "Come on you hunk of scrap, come ON!" Sarel screamed over the din of braying alarms and screeching metal. Almost as if it heard him, the Tarmeena slowed heavily in response, the near skeletal remains grinding to a stop mere yards from the unwavering metal walls of the landing bay.
"Keelah…" whispered the Flying Officer in disbelief, his voice barely audible over the shrill cries of the alarms, "I-I did it. Keelah. I'm alive. We're alive. I did it." He removed his hands from the controls, staring at them in dumbfounded amazement as they shook like leaves in the wind. Tali couldn't take her eyes off the wall through the viewport, her breathing was fast and she sounded close to hyperventilation. We almost hit it. The thought spun around in her head over and over, playing like a broken holo-record. Ren picked himself up off the floor where he'd been thrown from the initial impact, clutching at a sudden surge of pain in his calf. "Let's get out of this thing," ordered the Lieutenant, his voice laced with irritation at his pain, "it could still go up at any second."
Sarel and Tali barely heard him and his words registered with neither. Muttering under his breath Ren took each of them by the shoulder and shook them roughly in turn. They regarded him with blank stares in response. "Out. Now." He commanded forcibly, pulling Tali out of her seat and helping her towards the door. "Before she goes up in flames and all this ends up being for nothing." He stopped to key the exit switch next to the cabin door. "Geta! You coming?" The pilot nodded, slowly at first, then with renewed vigor. "Yes sir, yes sir. I'll be right there sir." The Lieutenant observed him for a moment as if to satisfy himself, then nodded affirmation and keyed the door open.
No sooner did he and Tali clamber out of the cockpit than they were roughly pushed aside by a slew of aliens. The Lieutenant cursed, almost sprawling to the deck in the sudden melee. Tali clashed with a vicious alien that hissed angrily at her when she struggled to bypass him in the crowd. Its malevolent red eyes lit up in fury and a mouth full of thin, razor sharp teeth snarled a warning: "Out of the way, stupid sick peoples!" Tali, pulled abruptly out of her stupor at the sight of the hideous thing, momentarily bristled at the insult but the mad bustle of the crowd and the alien's intimidating leer got the best of her. She hastily ducked aside and scrambled through the sea of people, eventually bursting through them and wincing at the various bruises she'd received. A hand grasped her forearm and she spun, fist clenched and ready to connect directly with the alien's hideous face.
"Easy, easy!" The Lieutenant cried, arresting her hand in mid swing, "it's me, it's Ren."
Tali's hand relaxed, a relieved gasp escaping them both. Ren released her hands and Tali took a step back, feeling herself going limp all over with relief.
"I can't believe we made it." She confided quietly, looking back at the blackened scar they had gouged into the landing bay's deck.
"Yeah, Sarel did a damn good job…and speaking of Sarel," Ren realized, "where the hell is he?"
The two quarians gazed into the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of their friend but in the chaos it was an impossible task. Ren was about to elbow his way back into the cockpit when a weak voice hailed them.
"Over here!" A panting Sarel lifted his hand weakly to catch their attention, standing with his hands on his knees a few yards to their left.
"Sarel!" Tali cried, promptly running over and helping take the beleaguered pilot's weight, "what happened? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he groaned as the pair helped him away from the ship, "took an elbow to the ribs somewhere, winded me is all. I tell ya, they threw me out of that cockpit like I wasn't even there; I was out of the ship before I knew what was going on."
"What were you still doing in there?" questioned Ren.
"Trashing the ship's records, couldn't let them get their hands on anything about the Fleet's position."
Ren nodded, the Flying Officer's actions making sense. The coordinates of the Migrant Fleet were restricted to quarians and only those who needed to travel to and from it. They were rarely passed out to anyone else and certainly not Omega's pirates and criminals.
"You made sure it's all gone?" the Lieutenant asked.
"Certain, don't worry sir," replied Geta firmly, "they're not getting anything other than spare parts out of that thing."
"Speaking of spare parts, it looks like that's all that going to be left of her pretty soon." said Ren soberly.
Tali and Sarel turned to see what he was looking at, realizing the truth of his statement at the sight of dozens of alien's scrabbling in and around the Tarmeena, ripping, cutting and disassembling bits and pieces of the freighter as they went. Though they'd saturated her exterior in flame dampening fluids from the firefighting equipment Tali knew the ship could easily ignite from the inside out. The aliens probably knew it too but they seemed completely heedless of the danger.
"I thought they were fire crews, not thieves!" Tali cried indignantly.
"We don't save people who fly around in scrap for nothing girlie," chuckled a gruff batarian, elbowing her out of the way as he carried some unidentifiable chunks of metal off the wreck, "you don't like it go crying back to yer flotilla."
Ren shot the retreating alien a glare and pulled Tali aside.
"Can they even do this?" she asked incredulously.
He didn't respond.
They watched in silence as the Tarmeena was cannibalized, the ship slowly disintegrating piece by piece as the denizens of Omega, from vorcha to batarian, took either as much as they wanted or as much as they could carry. Surveying the carnage with his arms across his chest, Ren shook his head in quiet disbelief. "I'd heard the stories about this place, the people, but seeing it for yourself…"
Geta, seated atop a discarded pile of firefighting equipment, stared glumly at the charred, fragmented mess that had once been his ship and sighed.
"Welcome to Omega."