Disclaimer: Hey, guess what? I just own my OCs! Snap! (I know, it's all a big f***ing shocker, ain't it?)
Liege Lord: I'm happy and relieved you liked my last chapter. Anyway, you've got a good thing going there, and it landed near some of my plans, just so you know. Of course, things may change, you know how stories are: they tend to write themselves, in a way.
Hopelessly Blue: You're the best, man! Thanks for your review, it really made my day. ;) And yeah, I know Shepard may be… well, Shepard… but that doesn't mean she isn't a 'regular' person, you know? Giving trust to a stranger, even if that stranger is Commander Shepard, is extremely difficult.
Stilphyell: Oh, don't worry, Raegas' people have their own history and culture and such; I've really thought this out, you know?
And, as I know many of you may be wondering: No. She isn't Prothean. And no, that isn't a spoiler.
A/N: Okay, I've got good news, and I've got bad news. Let's start with the bad news; just kidding! I only have good news right now! And, by the way, it's that this chapter is longer than the others! Yay! Oh, and it has a bit of action, as well, for all you trigger-happy knuckleheads. ;)
The next day I explored the fourth deck. It had a gym, restrooms/showers, extra quarters, a large room with a bunch of crates (supplies, I guess) and a customization chamber. There were tools everywhere and plenty of materials for me to build weapons or whatever.
I knew how to build and such because I had the knowledge in my mind already; I could build anything I wanted if I had the right stuff. I decided I would hang out there most of the time to try to invent something; after all, my knowledge was from millennia ago when my species was more advanced than these 'new' races. It was unfortunate the materials my people used were located in the cores of certain planet types, meaning the materials used for 'modern' things wouldn't match the quality- at all.
Oddly enough, when I'd woken up, I realized I'd recalled a couple things about where I was from, but as if in consequence, I forgot a few things of my life back on Earth. It made me wonder if, eventually, I'd forget everything of that past life altogether. Maybe it was for the best… But again, would I want to remember?
I sat in front of the main workbench and set a few samples of the materials down. I figured I might as well see if I'd be able to improve them in some way, maybe refine and fuse them. Of course, there was no way of knowing what would happen if I did such a thing, but it was better than just sitting around.
I began my experimentation on each of them individually to get a feel for what they would react with. The first three went well and showed possible potential, but once I got to the fourth, I found myself reminded of a time I had first encountered the substance called Eezo.
"Raegas, where are we going?" Vetrali huffed, trying to catch up to me. I turned to her and smiled, excited at the prospect of adventure.
"I want to see what the site found! We've found another large deposit!" I exclaimed, taking her hand and pulling her along. She laughed a bit, but quickly squashed it down.
"It is not a place quite appropriate for-"I cut her off with a bark of laughter.
"For what? Vetrali, I am weary of such treatment just because of whose child I am." I sighed, finally reaching the site. I pulled her along before she could say anything and walked through the crowd. Everyone said hello to me with big smiles and shining eyes; I'd always loved to escape my cage and walk among people. I supposed that was a reason for them to like me.
We finally got to the caretaker of the operation and he turned to greet me. He too looked very happy to see I was present, although I was simply walking around. He was a burly man, but very healthy and fit with a worn, welcoming face. I'd known him for a long while, so he wasn't really official with me as most were, and I liked it.
"Raegas, how good of your curiosity to jump at every opportunity; it may get me arrested!" he laughed, mirth in his deep voice. I smirked at his excitement and looked down at what he'd been focused on earlier. It was glowing blue substance and very strange given our location. The only reason I'd been on the planet was because of the discovery; my father had dragged me along with him because I was the eldest and I was supposed to know the happenings of the galaxy.
"It's a strange-looking substance, Morag; do you have any idea what its properties are?" I asked curiously, only adding to his laugh. I gave a look to Vetrali before looking back on the discovery.
"I believe this is a physical representation-possibly- of our people's abilities. Of course, it isn't as powerful as what we achieve normally, but it has potential. I believe if we refine it and such, it could act as an enhancer." He explained, his expert knowledge coming in handy as usual.
"Raega'Darenth Lixeria Braceros!" I jumped at the sudden booming voice of my father and turned around to see him standing not six feet from me. His burning eyes certainly didn't seem happy to see me here.
"What are you doing here! I explained to you, not one hour ago, that Morag can handle this himself." He sighed, placing a strong hand on my shoulder, the weight of it pushing it down.
My mother was standing next to him, giving me a secret smile. I'd always been told that I got my wild urges from her, and I could understand. She still pranked or tricked people as well, though she was also extremely compassionate and wise. My father was smart and tactful, but he was clueless when it came to parenting. His constant efforts to raise my younger siblings and I was the very thing we found endearing. Though, both of my parents had tempers.
"I'm sorry father, I was curious." I apologized, getting a smile from the large man. He seemed to think for a few moments, and finally, he broke into a large grin.
"Then where were you, Morag? Let us continue!"
His voice echoed in my mind, the unspoken forgiveness catching me off-guard. I hadn't realized my eyes were leaking until a drop landed on my hand. I stared down at the droplet in wonder, seeing the faint blue glow inside of it. Before I could totally focus on it though, it vanished, leaving a completely normal drop of water behind. Shaking it off, I continued my work on the Eezo, thankful for my friend Morag's explanation.
…
Just as I finished my experimentation, about two hours later, I cut myself on the precision torch. It burned my skin and cut through the flesh almost instantly, even as my arm jerked it away. I grunted in pain and looked down at my bloody mess of an arm and switched the torch off.
Oddly enough, just as I began to move to stand, the pain disappeared. I regarded my arm once more, seeing and feeling the flesh knit slowly back together. The bleeding sluggishly stopped and the gash closed, leaving behind only a puddle of blood on my shirt and floor along with a strange feeling. I stood and took a few steps toward the door, wiping the blood from my arm- trying to anyway.
"Are you alright?" I looked up and noticed a worried-looking Shepard standing in the doorway. Great. Just my luck that the one person I don't want to be friends with catches me at a bad time.
"I'm perfectly healthy." I said, focusing on my arm and walking distractedly past her. I walked into my room and left the door open, knowing Shepard was behind me. As I stripped my bloodied shirt off, it dripped onto my face a bit and smeared across the skin. Once it was off, I examined it shortly before tossing it onto the floor to search for a spare shirt.
"I meant, are you injured? There's blood all over you." She was concerned, and that was a bad thing; I had a sensitivity to people who wanted to know I was alright.
"Yes, I was injured." I muttered, staring into an empty closet for a moment before closing it. "But now I'm fine." I finished, picking my bloody shirt again and putting it back on.
"Why are you putting that back on?" she asked, at a loss as to what to do.
"I have no spares and I've been covered in blood before. It'll dry out soon anyway." I said, picking up my armor and carrying it to the CC with Shepard close behind.
"Even if that's the case, I don't tolerate any of my crew having to wear bloodied uniforms." She stated, placing a hand on my shoulder. I tensed at the contact, remembering my father doing the same, but said nothing as I set the armor down on the main table.
"That's nice for them, isn't it?" I asked rhetorically, turning to grab the torch on a nearby table. Just as I did so though, she stepped in my way. I could smell several emotions broiling inside of her, but she kept calm with her 'Commander face' on. I raised an eyebrow but said nothing since she began to talk.
"You're a part of my crew now, and that includes you when I say I don't tolerate such conditions." I didn't know why, but I got annoyed and a little angry when she said this. I felt as if she was trying to tame me and put me on a leash or something, even if my brain knew it wasn't true. Even if she sought to be my 'Commander', I knew she just wanted me to be welcome… or something to that effect.
"I was taken from my resting place; awakened millennia after my own people died out, stuck down here and told I was a stranger's new toy. Tell me, Shepard; what would you feel if you were in my position?" I spoke lowly again, but kept from seeming threatening to her. I wasn't going to hurt her and I didn't want to, but she wasn't making my transition easy. Besides, I felt she could probably hurt me just as well, if she had to.
She didn't answer my question and I knew she couldn't by the way she stood there, shock clear on her face. I didn't bother deciphering her mixed emotions as I stood there for a few seconds more. I let out a breath and gently held her wrist, putting it onto the table instead of my shoulder. With that, I left, heading to my room.
…
The next day, I found myself trying to ignore a fidgeting Ashley. She'd come down to the CC, carrying a set of her armor. It was a simple Phantom mark two, ranking in medium class with a high flexibility rating, but low armor penetration defense, originally made for stealth. I'd been looking through as much information as I could on the terminal in my room, so I was able to recognize a lot of new stuff thanks to my photographic memory. I guess she wanted me to do something with it, but the whole time she'd been there, she'd just been standing behind me. I hadn't turned, but I could smell her uncertainty.
"Do you need something, or are you just going to stand there?" I asked, focusing on my current activity. I was realigning a strain of 'refined' Palladium that had bent somehow.
"I need to fix my armor, it… got damaged." She said, standing still. I stopped what I was doing and took the armor from her, setting it onto the table. She was surprised by the gesture, but said nothing as I began examining it, looking for the bullet holes and such.
"What do you want me do?" I asked, setting the various parts in certain areas of the table.
"What do you mean…?" she asked, obviously confused. I let out a breath and pulled the precision torch out.
"I can customize, rebuild, upgrade, change, alter… pretty much anything you want, as long as I have the right materials. Now, what do you want me to do with your armor?" I asked once more, looking at her. She gaped at me for a moment, but caught herself and seemed to think about it.
"If you don't mind, I'd like it upgraded. It's easy to move in, but it can't block straight on bullets at all. I could use a better filter too, the helmet is always stuffy…" she said, pointing to each piece she wanted changed. I bit back a smirk at her mention of stuffy helmets and nodded understanding. She left soon after, leaving me to my devices.
First, I fixed up her suit's punctures and holes, making sure there were no seams anywhere, and then I moved to refine the outer armor itself. I buffered it and stripped down the useless and/or broken pieces, either replacing them or upgrading them. Once finished with the individual pieces, I went to adding an extra layer of platinum inlaid light iridium. It would allow the suit to breathe while bolstering the defense several fold. By the time I finished that, I saw it had been three hours. I knew there would be another mission later and if Ashley wanted to go, I'd have to hurry my ass up.
With that thought in mind, I changed out the filter in her armor and connected the tubes so they could easily filter through her entire suit of armor instead of simply her helmet. It would allow her to be able to withstand higher temperatures with ease and vice versa for cold weather. With that finished, I repainted her armor to give it sleekness.
"There we go." I muttered, letting out a breath and smirking down at my awesome job. I was sweaty and dirty from the continuous work, so add that with my already dried blood, and I look like I just escaped from a POW camp. It was too bad I couldn't change, but I figured I could wait until we get to the next refueling station.
I picked the armor up and headed to my room to see if I couldn't get a bottle of water. With that thought, my stomach growled angrily, displeased with my apparent abuse; I hadn't eaten since I'd woken up in the Normandy. Once I was to my room though, I caught sight of a folded Normandy uniform sitting on my bed. I set the armor down and stripped out of my own clothes. I took a quick shower, dressed in the mysterious uniform and wiped Ashley's armor off until it was shiny; I always was a perfectionist.
I carried the armor into the elevator and pushed the button for the third deck. It wasn't a big surprise that the elevator was as slow as it was in the game, but if you really thought about it, it was ridiculous. If there was a medical emergency to get to the second deck from the fourth deck, the victim would die before they even passed the third floor.
The door opened in the middle of my musings to reveal the cargo bay. I stepped out and caught sight of a restless Ashley, pacing back and forth at her station. I bit back a smirk as I approached her and waited for her to turn again. When she did, she looked up and jumped as she saw me, making me wonder if I was scary or something.
"Here. I need you to try it on so I know it fits." I said, getting a confused look from her. Wordlessly, I helped her into the armor. Two minutes later, she was comfortably situated into her armor and I walked around her twice to make sure it fit the curves as well since my extra plating may have altered it a bit. Luckily, my alterations looked alright and the phoenix colors fit her really well.
"How does it feel?" I asked, running my hand along the now-gone bullet punctures to make sure they weren't noticeable.
"Amazing." She marveled, experimentally moving her arms around to test the flexibility. "It feels so good, I can't believe it fits so well!" she grinned, rolling her shoulders. I put her helmet on her before she kept talking to see if the filtration system would work.
"I installed a conditioning system as well. The filtration will kick in as soon as the external sensors detect an off-balance temperature to what I set it to." I explained, still examining the suit's external shell.
"The helmet isn't stuffy anymore! My whole suit feels like it has air conditioning!" she certainly was excited, wasn't she? I suppose anyone would be when they'd been putting up with stuffy, hot helmets and low-power filtration system. I bent and made sure her hip plates conjoined with her leggings correctly and saw that one of the clamps hadn't been tucked together.
"Just a second, there's another clamp." I said, gripping the metal. I made sure it wasn't bent, and then clamped it together, sealing the suit. I heard it hiss gently as it pressurized and began filtering the oxygen through as I stood straight again. I saw Ashley was focused on her new suit so much she probably didn't notice me when I bent down. As she continued to move her arms around, I walked toward the elevator, only to be stopped by Shepard. She seemed to notice my new, mysterious uniform and smirked slightly as if self-satisfied. Maybe she sent it down or something…
"Raegas, I want you on this mission." She stated, already in her uniform. I raised an eyebrow, unsure as to what to feel.
"And we're going where…?" I asked, a tad impatient. I wanted to just be left alone at the moment so I could think about things. This was all too new to me, and though I was doing everything I could to learn of the galaxy, it was overwhelming in the least- not that I would admit to that…
"We're heading down to Luna in a bit. There's a rogue VI and we need to take it down before it manages to hurt anyone else, or worse." As she spoke, I entered the elevator slowly. I recalled the mission from the game and all, but why she wanted to take me was beyond me. It wasn't as if I had much experience with their weapons and such…
"See you in a bit then." I said simply, letting the doors close as she turned toward Ashley. I sighed in slight resignation, but kept from slumping pathetically to the floor; I was tired since I hadn't been able to sleep well so far. Of course, that would make sense, right? Still, I doubted I would be much help on said mission, but at least I knew what to expect; that's something.
…
As I boarded the mako, I realized it was much larger than I'd thought it was. Then again, I'd seen it on a TV screen before then. Putting that aside, I strapped myself in and made sure it was secure before glancing around. The interior was pretty simple, with seats and straps, obviously, and the comfort level was pretty low. Although the seat were a little padded or whatever, that didn't mean they were any more comfortable.
In any case, Shepard took the driver's seat (duh) while Ashley and Liara took seats across from me. I tried to ignore their staring as well, as the Normandy's cargo bay doors opened. Shepard, being who she was, gunned the throttle and sent us flying out of the ship, down to Luna below us. In reflex, I couldn't help but tense and hold onto the straps keeping me in my seat.
After what seemed like an hour, the jets in the mako activated and slowed our descent. Luckily, we made it to the surface of Luna with no physical injuries. Again, Shepard stomped on the gas, sending the mako hurtling forward at unsafe speeds. I kept a firm grip on my seat's straps, unwilling to let go as we jumbled around like beans in a can; thanks to Shepard's magical ability to hit every freaking rock along the way.
…
Once an eternity of bumps, screeches and jumping was over, we made it to the first base. I thought it was strange how Shepard managed such 'driving' on a fucking flat surface, but it was probably better to just not question it. In the game, it had been a simple drive with pretty much no bumps or ledges to speak of, but no, we had to change it up a little when it was real!
Holding in a huff of annoyance and exhaustion, I jumped out of the mako along with everyone else. We began to fire on the turrets guarding the entrance of the, surprisingly large, compound one. Ash also lobbed a few grenades at them while Shepard expertly dodged a missile and shot them up simultaneously- even Liara managed to do some biotic thing and freeze the turrets temporarily. Talk about epic teamwork… They made me feel so left out; all I did was shoot at the damn things.
We entered the compound once we destroyed the guard turrets. I was glad I was still alive and uninjured, but I figured it would be better if I could do more than just survive. I could survive with style! Okay, that was stupid, I know. I think strange things when I get tired, you know.
Anyway, I looked around to see the interior was pretty much the same as it was in the game, but actually being there gave it more perspective. The rooms seemed larger, for one, but that was to be expected I suppose. Unfortunately, my musings were cut off as soon as Shepard opened the door, only to be greeted by a bunch of those flying things with guns.
We took what cover we could find and fired whenever the opportunity aroused. I peeked around the corner of the box I was hiding behind and saw a lone drone about six feet away. The others were still engaged with a small group at the other end of the boxes, so I took the moment to aim down my AR, given to me by Shepard, focusing on the drone intently. Just as I lined it up, I squeezed the trigger and sent the bullet speeding toward the drone. Luckily, I didn't miss, and its shields went down. With a couple more shots, it was down and out.
Eventually, we made it to the core rooms. Ash and I took out one of them while Shepard and Liara took care of the other. Just as we went through them though, the lights began to flicker and dim, telling me we were doing some damage. Good.
…
It took us almost an hour to get to the third and last base. By then, I was tired of the drones and the VI controlling them. I just wanted to go back to the Normandy and take a shower to get all of this sweat and grime off. I guess I just wasn't used to running around in a full suit of armor while fighting off hordes of turrets and drones to take out rogue VIs. Hm. It really was as annoying as it sounds.
In any case, we finally managed to get to the last two core rooms. By then, gas was also being emitted through the vents because of the damage we were causing, so add that to the dim, flickering lights, and it reminded me of something from Saw or Silent Hill. Another feature that wasn't in the game was the various blood stains speckled around he rooms of the bases from previous visitors.
The janitor must've been on leave. The thought made me snicker quietly as I and Ash destroyed the nodes in our room. She didn't seem to notice my small fit either, but the gunfire probably just covered me up. In any case, we met back up with Shepard and Liara in the hallway once they too destroyed the last remaining nodes. I shot down the force fields covering the doorways as we made our way back; those were annoying as well.
Once back to the main room, more drones popped out from nowhere and attacked us. Again, we all took cover and shot at them whenever we could. I managed to mostly just take the shields down of the drones while Shepard or Ashley took them completely out and Liara created singularities around the enemy forces.
By the time it was over and we were climbing back into the mako, I saw that we'd been gone for more than two hours. Man, time flies when you're killing things…
A/N: Yeah, not much happening, but again, I want to stress the bothersome introductions and basis building. And at least we had a little bit of action this time, right? Anyway, I thank my readers for taking time out of their day to take a look at my work. Please, review! ;)