A/N: At Macho1234 asking I'm continuing the story of Sigma Squad. This begins soon after Saren's death. Sorry drinking scene will have to happen later. Same format as before Thoughts, "Mando'a"
Fixed the grammar.
The commandos of Sigma Squad were always quick learners. In two week they learned the rough galactic history, including the Reapers, and adapted to the new tech. With Tali's help, Beviin had adapted their armors with this galaxy's standard while keeping all of the Katarn's original specs. Araniik liked that the new suit add-ons, including a radar that detected enemies - but he didn't want to rely on it, so he configured it to pop-up on his HUD when there were more than eight enemies in an area. Bev even converted the squad's DC-15s and DC-17m blaster and sniper configurations to utilize mass accelerators and adapted some of the clips for the blaster and sniper to heat-sinks. Beviin was so used to the new tech that he had created a second omni-tool to better facilitate him when he sliced systems. Rang only like the little device for the ability to toss an unlimited supply of tech mines at enemies and the ability to perform noninvasive medical scans and apply medi-gel, which could have saved thousands of clones.
Rang was getting use to medi-gel instead of bacta. The only thing Rang didn't like about it, from a medical perspective, was that medi-gels, when compared to bacta, only did the job half way. It only stimulated rapid healing by sealing the wounds, whereas bacta worked with the body to heal faster. But Rang had to deal with it until he found a way to synthesis more bacta or something close to it. Prudii was more interested in the histories of the species in the galaxy, since it was a lot easier to remember with only a handful of names unlike their galaxy where millions of species existed. Prudii had found that the krogans were in many ways similar to the Mandalorians; adaptive, tough, enduring and warriors, something the krogan have lost in the pass few centuries after being infected with the genophage. Prudii felt an unusual connection to the quarian people though. Most, if not their entire adult life was spent sealed in a suit. He had always isolated himself when he was in his armor but they have no choice in the matter. Recalling now, Prudii had thought he saw a tear run down Tali's face behind her mask when they first removed their helmets here, now he was almost certain he did.
Garrus had told them all they needed to know about galactic law which was more or less the same until they heard about A.I.s being illegal and restrictions on weapons of mass destruction, mainly orbital bombardment. It would have made their lives easier, or non-existent, if it was like that in their galaxy. They learned all they need to know about the underside of the galaxy from Wrex. They heard that the Shadow Broker was not one to trifle with but they shouldn't be on bad terms with either, like a Hutt dealing in information. Sigma Squad went to Sirta Foundation to 'fix' a problem the Kaminoans left. Rang had blood samples ready for testing, he just didn't have the lab or credits to do it himself. It cost a fortune, but with Wrex's loan, Sirta found the gene site and 'cured' them. Sigma didn't care where it was, they just wanted it returned to normal. Araniik presented it as a rare non-transmittable genetic decay that ages their bodies faster than it should - not that anyone would be able to see the genetic tailoring the Kaminoans had flawlessly interwoven into their genes. It took Sirta Foundation a few months but they found a viable way of undoing the accelerated growth without causing any side effects.
But before that, the Citadel Council wanted to know whether to consider them humans or not. Sigma never felt just human but they had limited exposure beforehand. So when asked, Araniik answered, "Just call us, Mandalorians." Due to declaring themselves independent from humans or any other race, they did not have a political voice on the Citadel that wanted a seat on the Council. This also opened the possibility for the Council to ask if they wanted to join the ranks of the Spectres. No rules could hold them back, they could keep the peace how they saw fit and access to almost anything they want; what more could they ask for? The four of them needed a few moments to discuss it.
They were using their suit's personal communication channels. "Boss, I think we should do it. I mean, it's the 'go wherever we want, do whatever we want and get away with it' badge. Plus we need a steady supply of credits somewhere."
Beviin wasn't as certain as Rang, "Araniik, are we sure there won't be any repercussions for joining. What if we do find a way back home, what then? Do we abandon one duty to carry another?"
Prudii demonstrated his lack of concern for either argument when he said, "Why not? We were made to help the Jedi keep peace by their rules. If we join we're just following their rules instead. If we find a way back there's nothing saying we can't leave. But from Urdnot's stories, sound like we could make more credits from the private sector."
Araniik unmuted his helmet and stepped forward to answer the Council, "If it's alright with you, we need a few days to mull about it. We'll message you when we have an answer." The Council members, especially the turian Councilor Valern, were not pleased with the answer but it was the best answer they were going to get. Especially since they were their own 'nation'. A few days after their meeting, the SSV Normandy was attacked by an unknown vessel that took the lives of twenty-two crew members; Commander Shepard was among those lost.
The funeral was held days after Shepard's death. Many were unable to hide their feelings for the loss of the Commander. Wrex was leaning against a wall closest to the surviving Normandy crew. Garrus had placed himself between his friends from C-Sec and Chief Williams. Liara and Dr. Chakwas were next to Joker with his crutches on his chair. Even though Sigma had battled only one mission with the man, they felt a sense of respect that they needed to pay towards him. Araniik, Beviin and Rang stood in the back behind the last row. Prudii was sitting in the back row next to Tali as she laid her head against his arm, crying for the loss of Shepard. Prudii had lost brothers during the Clone Wars but he had never seen people in such woe over the loss of one man. Prudii was trying to help her but all he could do was let her lay her head against him as her muted helmet let her cry without other, besides Sigma Squad, knowing. All four commandos gave the Commander a silent prayer: Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la.
During the service, Araniik noticed a little droid-looking thing next to a woman near the front wearing an elaborate blue gown. He asked Beviin to hack the little bot and send the data to his HUD. Even from that distance, Beviin sliced it with ease and with no one the wiser.
After the service was finished, Tali and Prudii talked away from the crowd. Prudii was never good at socializing. "Are you, OK?"
"I'll live but…I just can't believe Shepard didn't make it."
"Maybe if my vode and I were with you, things might have been different." Prudii was not sure if that was comforting or not but at least he was trying.
"Thanks but…I'll find a way to handle it. It's nice to know I have someone I can talk to." Prudii activated his new omni-tool and sent her data. Tali looked at the message, "What's this?"
"Personal helmet comm. channel. If you ever want to talk to someone." For the first time in his life, Prudii was nervous, and he had stared death in the face more times than most of his brothers.
"I'm sure to call you from time to time from the Fleet. Thank you Prudii, for everything."
"We…could…travel with you…back to your Fleet." Prudii's fingers were clenching.
Tali finally regained her smile, "I'd like that very much, Prudii."
While Prudii and Tali were talking, Araniik had a chat with Wrex. "…so what do you think, Wrex? Should we join?"
Wrex paused for a moment to think, "Personally, I'd do it. Being a Spectre means you have no rules holding you back but you do have to report to the Council from time to time and it tends to be hard to blend in with a status like that hanging over your head. I'm not saying you couldn't do merc work, just that most wouldn't hire you knowingly, if you took the offer."
Beviin was displeased about the lack of a body at the funeral. "They should have taken the time to look for his remains at least."
Rang didn't mind and was keeping it between the two of them, "Hey it's a better funeral then we'll ever get. Besides I doubt a body in armor could survive atmospheric reentry now, don't you agree?" For Mandalorians, they normally only give a marked gave to Mandalore when a body is recoverably, unless he specified otherwise. Otherwise mass graves and cremations were common for dead Mandalorians with only a possession, usually armor even if it's only smaller parts, are kept as memorials.
"I don't know…verda die on the field of battle, not in the void of space."
"Tell that the thousands of vode we've lost in space."
"At least they were fighting something. The reports say Shepard and his crew were abandoning ship after a jehavey'ir."
Prudii and Tali had walked over to where Araniik was. "Aran. Could we go with Tali to her people? T-t-to insure she gets back safely."
"Alright Prudii, but first…" Aran pulled out one of his pistol and shot the little robot. Seven C-Sec officers moved in and Araniik pulled out his second pistol and aimed at two different officers. Prudii was pulling the head fringes of a turian officer with one of his gauntlet blades at his exposed throat. Rang and Beviin had both of their DC-17m and 15s trained on the last four. The four of them moved into these positions within three seconds of Aran being surrounded.
A turian with large light blue markings on his face appeared wearing fancy clothing with more officers in tow. "What seems to be the problem here?"
The woman with the now destroyed machine, walked over, "This 'brute' destroyed my camera and all of my footage today!" Araniik didn't say a word as his helmet replayed one of the comments the woman had recorded on the little floating camera, "The alien-lover whose death marks the end of a short lived relation between humanity and the Citadel races. Note to self: replace 'alien-lover' with Shepard or Commander later for political reasons."
Araniik stopped the recording so he could speak, "I may not have known Shepard as long as some here, but I just think it wasn't the best way to represent the man, especial at his funeral. I've always hated tay'haai'e personally."
"I agree." Not sure what that word was. The Executor signaled the officers to stand down, and Araniik did the same. "Escort Miss. Al-Jilani out of here." As a pair of C-Sec officers removed her, she kept saying how it was going against her right of freedom of the press. "I wish they could fix that. Couldn't you have found a better way to destroy the data?"
"Figured I'd make a better point by destroying the little droid. I'm sure she or her boss have insurances for it. Araniik, Sigma Squad." He saluted.
"Executor Pallin. Head of C-Sec." Pallin saluted right back. "So you and your boys are the mysterious Sigma Squad. Thanks for keeping one mess from starting. From the reports I've read, Shepard could have become a better Spectre then Saren ever was. You humans should be proud."
"Technically we listed ourselves as Mandalorians, not humans."
"I heard about that. Good luck surviving without any political leeway on your side." With that bit, Araniik had finally decided what to with the Council's offer.
Before leaving to the Migrant Fleet, Araniik had a private meeting with the Citadel Council. "I've made my decision. We're joining your Spectres, under conditions."
Councilor Valern still viewed him as a human. "You don't make demands of the Council! You either join or don't! There's no exception!"
The salarian Councilor Marnath simply said, "Let's at least hear what he has to say first before deciding anything. We do owe them our lives after all."
Aran started to explain, "We'll join but I don't want any fancy ceremony, none of your political bullshit and no public acknowledgment of us being Spectres. We'll do missions for you and report from time to time but Sigma Squad will work our way. All we need is a ship and we're set."
The asari Councilor Tevos asked, "Why do you wish to be so secretive about being Spectres?"
Aran simply said, "Because we still want to work as mercenaries in-between your 'missions' and it'll be hard if everyone knows we work for you. All I ask is that only the four of you know so, for the first time in our lives, we can live the way we want. If you're so concerned, we'll even limit our activities to the Terminus Systems unless one of your missions or contracts says otherwise. I'm not doing this for myself, this is my vode."
The newest Councilor, the human Anderson, saw the reasoning behind it even without knowing the true history. "If we did keep quiet about them we could always use them as a trump card for desperate situations, and if we have another Spectre or STG unit that need back up they could always say that detected a distress beacon or something."
The asari nodded to the others and they both nodded back. The asari spoke, "Off the record, we recognize Sigma Squad as Spectres and will call upon your team in times of need. We will have a ship for you in public Dock 724."
Araniik bowed, "Thank you, Councilors." With that he left them to reunite with Tali and the rest of Sigma Squad.
"So, how did it go? Do we have to answer to anyone?" Rang couldn't help but mess around about Aran meeting the Council alone.
Aran laughed, "I'll explain later, Rang. For now, let's get to our ship."
Beviin and the rest of Sigma were confused, "I'm sorry sir, but did you say, 'our ship'?"
Aran just said, "I 'negotiated' a way for us to get a ship. Now I believe we have someone to return to her fleet."
Along the way, Prudii and Tali were talking together, getting to know each other better. "…and that's the Migrant Fleet and the quarian people. So what about…what did Aran call it, Mandalorian?"
Prudii explained, "Mando'ade. Our buir, or father, was a man named Jango Fett. He was a Mandalorian and he was the one who recruited our drill sergeants. They say he was the best bounty hunter ever."
"Was?"
Prudii looked down, "A Jedi by the name of Mace Windu sliced his head off at the beginning of our war."
Tali was confused, "But, you told me you worked with these Jedi and that they defend peace. How can he justify killing that man, your father?"
"I never said I saw him as a father, just our genetic donor. Some of the other vode may have seen it like that, but not me. I only had my buir, mother, Vhonte Tervho. At the time of his death, he was working with the Separatist and attacked Windu first."
Tali was a bit lost. "Your language is a bit confusing, so some words like mother and father use the same word?"
Prudii tried to explain as he knew, "They usually have the same meaning, just depends on the circumstance; like vod means brother, sister or comrade but one could add jagyc for male or dalyc for female. For me my vode are the others from Sigma Squad and all the other clones, I'm just closer to these guys. Staabi, I was about to tell you about the Mandalorian people. To be honest, many of the krogan concepts, before they lost their way, are similar. We are both verda, warriors, searching for worthy opponents to fight. The only real difference is that the krogan are a species, so too were the first Mandalorians. But now, it more of a culture that accepts those who are willing to follow our laws and rules. We live by tenets called the Six Actions that cannot be forsaken; Wear the armor, Speak Mando'a, Defend yourself and your family, Raise your children as Mandalorians, Contribute to the clan's welfare and, When called upon by Mand'alor, we rally to his cause. Thinking about it now, Araniik could be considered our Mandalore."
Tali then asked, "Who, or what, is a Mandalore?"
Prudii continued, "It's the name we give to our leader. He or she is usually the strongest and most worth amongst us. When a Mandalore dies, a successor will take on the mantel and lead their way."
The whole time the two of them were talking, Araniik was privately telling Beviin and Rang the news. "…Pirusti, vaabir bintar vorer?"
"Ni o'r, Rang?"
"Val jate'shya verborir mhi!"
When Sigma Squad and Tali arrived to the ship, they found it was a small re-purposed turian frigate that was supposed to have been scrapped months ago. It was being refitted with new armaments and armor plating. A dock worker with a datapad walked towards the group, "Name?" He looked at them, "The name of the ship. What are you going to name her?"
Before the others could say it, Araniik took the datapad, "We'll call her Tervho, after our teacher." He signed it and handed it back to the turian.
"Ok, the ship is yours now. She's about twenty years old just to tell you right now. Personally, I'm amazed she even survived the geth attack. Girl's got lot of spirit in the right places. Good luck out there with your ship."
Inside their new ship, Sigma Squad inspected their new home. They were greeted by the ships VI program. "Welcome new crew. Please identify and indicate ship's new name." The voice was turian.
"Araniik, Commanding officer and navigations."
"Beviin, XO, pilot and communications."
"Rang, medical chief and engineer."
Prudii, gunner."
"The ships new name is the Tervho."
The VI then processed all the new data. "Reconfiguring. Welcome crew of the Tervho."
Rang found one of their soon to-be favorite places in the ship; the sparring area for hand-to-hand combat practice. The Tervho also had gunner positions, living quarters, navigation and a small kitchen. Of the team, Beviin was the best pilot but he wanted to check on the ships drive core so Aran took the helm. Aran was configuring the new system to a style that he and Beviin used in the old simulators. Other than the five of them, the ship was dead inside with no crew. "Well it looks like one of the first things we'll have to do is find a new crew but let's get Tali back to her fleet first." No one in Sigma Squad liked the fact that hyperdrives don't exist and they relied on the Mass Relay system to travel from cluster to cluster. Rang was checking their medical supplies while Prudii was going over the weapon systems. Tali was entering the Migrant Fleet's current coordinates at the galaxy map. With everything green, Aran started the ship's engines and the docking clams released. Approaching the large Mass Relay, Araniik entered the mass of the Tervho and flew alongside it. Now he knew what to expect, as the ship was enveloped by eezo and blasted to the next location.
A/N: The salarian Council member's name is just something off the top of my head. The other 2 names can be found on the Mass Wiki only the asari is identified. I inferred that the other name is the turian from the in-game reference about humans need to defend their colonies and blah blah. More Mando'a was used and much more later on if I can understand it correctly.
Mandalorian Translation: Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la.- Not gone, merely marching far away. (Tribute to a dead comrade.)
verda(VAIR-dah)- warriors (using an archaic plural)
jehavey'ir(jeh-HAHR-vay'eer)- ambush
tay'haai(TAY-hai)- reporter
Plurals are formed by adding -e. The "e" is always pronounced as "ay".
Staabi(STAH-bee)- Right
Pirusti, vaabi binta vore?(peer-OO-stee VAH-bee BEEN-ta VAW-reh)- Well, do both accept?
Ni o'r((nee ohr)- I'm in
Val jate'shya verbori fmhi!(vahl JAH-tay-SHEE-ah VAIR-bor-EE mee)- They better pay us!
