Chapter Four - Resolve

She hadn't slept since the nightmare.

The green eyed Pathfinder swung her legs out of the bed and stood upright, rubbing her tired eyes. She wanted to sleep, she needed to sleep… but she was terrified to do so.

Her hands moved back from her eyes with a jolt. She felt a brief sting, like a static shock had passed between her hands and her eyes but she of all people knew, static won't travel from yourself to yourself. She held out her hands, observing them…

Her veins glowed a faint blue. Her eyes widened.

"SAM, analysis? Is it… could it be happening?"

She looked towards the small node on her work desk. SAM responded to her after a moment. "Yes."

"You can't… stop it, can you?"

"I can slow its progress. As for a complete stop… I'm sorry, Sara."

She looked down as the glowing veins faded. "It's okay… not your fault I'm fucked."

She looked in the mirror, back at her fearful eyes. Reddened eyes from her lack of sleep, and noticing that made her make sure to pick up her pair of black leather gloves from the drawer of the work desk before she left the quarters.

Prodromos outpost

Eos

17:54

Temp. 36.4°C

It was midway through the day that the Scott and the Asari stepped into Mayor Bradley's unit, encountering the noise of piano music. Bradley was sat at the window, his row of musical keys ahead of him, making sure to finish his music bar before he stood up to the two scientists.

"I hope our little specimens yielded some good news." He looked, seeing Suvi hold up a small vial of a yellow tinted fluid. "I was… hoping for something a little more lethal."

"They're pheromones." Suvi explained. "We can't repel these creatures, but we might be able to attract them."

"And that would be a good thing because…?" Bradley questioned.

"The pheromones are what stimulates and controls their breeding cycle, it's what they smell on each other. If we can create a synthetic version, we can disperse it from a mobile platform and lead them away from the outpost, establish them a new breeding ground away from Prodromos." Lexi answered.

"All we need is to find a replication and a way to disperse the pheromones once they're made." Suvi added.

"You leave dispersal to me, use your time quick. We sent out a probe this morning, there's even more birds in that forest than there was yesterday and a few of them have started showing up at the outpost edge, found two pecking at a shield tower a few hours ago." Bradley responded. The two nodded before the door opened again.

"Sara… you okay?" Suvi questioned as the Pathfinder stepped into the room.

"I'm managing… tough night." Ryder answered, giving the brief answer to Bradley's curiosity.

"Nice shades. Now, need an able transport prepped to pull this off, think the Nomad will handle it?" Bradley asked. Ryder nudged her silver edged shades slightly higher up her nose.

"You'll have a hard time making her break." Ryder answered, looking then to Suvi and Lexi. "What've we got?"

"Get a big bank of pheromones strapped to the Nomad and lead the birds to a new area to make their children." Suvi responded, before she stepped over to her loved one and lightly hugged her. Ryder's hands rested on her back in return. "I'm here for you." She whispered.

"While I appreciate a good love tale, can we focus on hugging it out later?" Bradley said in response to them, the two parting after that. "Ryder, Nomad. Girls, pheromones. Me, something like a big sprayer. Let's get this done before dinner."

R&D Lab

Pathfinder Scout Vessel 'Tempest'

21:52

20°C Internal

"Try… pattern Gamma up to two thirds, then a mild omni-gel dash."

"On it…"

Lexi and Suvi had spent several hours working on replicating the pheromone, each attempt with little success so far. On top of that, they could see from the windows above them that the sky had begun to turn a slight yellow tinge, the sign of the approaching nightfall. When darkness came, the area would be flooded with the birds, which between the two of them the scientists had nicknamed 'Bitey Boys' for consistency within their work.

Suvi had tapped in the next method attempt and leant on the edge of the console for a moment, her mind again drifting off. She looked up at Lexi… she knew Sara wouldn't appreciate her telling Lexi yet but she was worried about her Pathfinder more than she let on. "Lexi. I… I've got a small… concern. Not about this, something… different."

"Just mention it, Suvi. As the doctor of the ship, hearing concerns is what I'm here for."

Suvi thought for a moment of how to word it. "It's about Sara. She's… she's not well."

Lexi looked up. "What do you mean. Sick? Injured and not showing it?"

"Sorta both. She's… been having nightmares. Third one in a row last night and… she didn't sleep after it. I'm worried that it's worse than she shows, or even worse than that, she might not even know how bad it is."

"I'll keep subtle tabs on it. I'll make sure she's alright, Suvi, I know you care deeply for her." Lexi responded, Suvi nodding slightly.

"I do care." Suvi answered. "I… I love her… the fact that she's suffering just feels…"

Lexi's hand rested on the Scottish woman's back. "She'll be okay. Trust your doctor on that…" She stopped midway as the console chimed and the display came up with results. "87% accuracy…"

"Is… that good enough?" Suvi asked. Before Lexi could answer, the three sectioned door opened, Ryder and Bradley lifting a large chemical drum between them.

"Sterilized chemical drum, used for putting fertilizers on the fields. Should hold about 60 litres, that gonna be enough?" Bradley questioned after they dropped the drum to the floor.

"It'll have to be. At the current rate, I doubt we'll be able to synthesize much more than that before nightfall." Lexi answered. Ryder stepped around to the other side of the door after hearing that, sliding down the ladder and jogging out down the ramp…

She stopped in her tracks. She didn't notice the heat on her skin, the beautiful colour of the sunset… all she noticed was the cloud. The black cloud of birds, millions upon millions of them coming to breed. And coming to tear up the colony in the process.

"Work fast, they're coming!" She shouted, quickly backing up back into the cargo bay and closing the hold door.

"We've got it on the brew now." Suvi responded, as Ryder returned to them. By now, Bradley and Suvi had attached the canister to the console while Lexi triggered the replicators to start working…

They all looked up as a loud crashing noise came from down the main corridor. Then there was yelling.

"Keep working!" Ryder said to the others, while grabbing the M6 Carnifex from her leg holster and jogging along the glass walkway, towards the triple section door at the end. She opened it…

"Ryder, help!" Kallo yelled out, flailing his arms as one of the Bitey Boys was repeatedly diving at him, having gotten into the cockpit by nudging a large rock from the cliff above which had broken through the ceiling glass. Of course, when Ryder shot such a small animal, the bullet tore straight through it and smashed a hole through the forward widescreen, the bird falling dead and Kallo falling to the back of his chair.

"Kallo, you good?" Ryder questioned, lowering her pistol to a ready position with both hands on the grip.

"I think so… thanks…" Kallo answered. He sat at his console, tapping a few things which caused the two gaps in the glass to slowly repair themselves, similar in technology to the omni-tool ability to re-seal minor splits and cracks in helmets.

"Wish I'd had one of those on Habitat 7…"

"Ryder, we're ready to go!"

"You ain't getting under my plates today!" They heard Drack yelling. Suvi darted to the cargo bay upper level, spotting Drack on the lower floor trying to wrestle off two of the birds.

She looked around quickly, seeking a way to try and help him. They were too fast for him, he'd touch them but they'd escape before he could squeeze his hand and crush them. But if he could touch them…

She raced across the glass walkway and slid down the left ladder, entering the forward quarters. She was quick to spot Ryder's Kett sword on its stand, taking it back down the corridor and to the cargo bay.

"Drack!" She called. The Krogan looked, then caught the sword as Suvi threw it. He grabbed the handle with two hands and swung it hard and fast, slashing right through both of the creatures attacking him.

"Thanks, kid." Drack responded as he lowered the sword. "Need a hand with the lifting?"

"Greatly appreciated." Bradley answered as he and Ryder managed to drag the now almost full container out to the upper level. The Krogan stepped up to beneath the edge of the walkway, arms raised ready to catch the pheromone container. The two managed to lift it and tip it over the edge of the railing, Drack grunting as he caught it.

The Krogan groaned to himself. "Damn it, I'm getting old." He carried it to the Nomad and opened a cargo port on the side, fitting the canister into it and plugging in the canister to some pipes inside the port. "Wired her up!"

"Alright, let's get this done then. Drack, I'd like a good steak when I come back." Ryder responded as she slid down the ladder to the Nomad, followed by Suvi.

"Any particular meat?" Drack questioned, though he knew what she'd reply. He just loved hearing a human talk almost like a krogan.

"First animal you come across. Just not one of these birds, way to boney." Ryder answered as she climbed into the Nomad… before she noticed Suvi getting into the other side. "Uh, I don't think so!"

"You need me to work the pheromones and besides, the Nomad is environmentally shielded, I'll be fine if I stay in here."

"The canister is plugged into the thruster tanks, it'll be dispersing through the Nomad itself, We're bailing when we get there and walking home."

"Then I'll walk with you."

Ryder knew it wasn't a dispute to be had, Suvi had plain and simply stated it, she was going too. "Fine… stay close to me."

The two sat inside the Nomad and closed the doors with a hiss of the environment seal. Ryder booted up the 'eezo' chamber engine and slowly rolled the car forward, then turned a dial. Normally the vents were there to vent heat to confuse seeking missiles, a system Gil had installed. Right now though, they began to disperse the pheromone, and slowly got the attention of the swarming birds which had already been pecking at glass with their razor sharp beaks, and had attacked a few people who dared to go outside.

"Alright you turkey shits, follow mama!" Ryder shouted as she opened the heat ports, then floored it towards the shield edge. The Bitey Boys began to dash after the Nomad, the gathering of them over the colony leaving with the Nomad looked almost like a star being slowly sucked away by a black hole, one string that slowly drained the mass until it was gone.

It took a minute for people to start coming out of their homes. Eyes gazed at the night sky, the stars and moons visible now that the mass had cleared. The occasional chirps of alien grasshoppers was all that disturbed the sound of peace and silence. The sound of Eos being safe again.

Kicking up a mist of dust along with the huge mass of following, squealing birds, the Nomad tore it down the dirt track amongst the dunes of the far out area, the outpost long behind them.

"Suvi, how far have we traveled?" Ryder questioned, having to raise her voice over the noise of the many Bitey Boys that were crashing into the outside of the Nomad, bashing their beaks on the reinforced windows which by now had told the two that the birds had clearly identified glass as an often breakable material.

"About 20 kilos now. Should be far enough, observable but out of harm's way." Suvi answered.

"Agreed… get ready, I'm gonna stop and we're gonna bail." Ryder responded. Suvi nodded, putting her datapad down on the dash, releasing her harness ready to go as soon as the doors released.

The Nomad stopped. The doors opened wide.

"Go, now!"

The two dashed out of the Nomad on each side, ducking as they ran from the flying monstrosities. Then Suvi tripped, the speed they were going putting Ryder instantly several paces ahead of her. A number of the creatures began swarming around Suvi as the Scottish voice screamed for Ryder's help.

Sara had to think fast. She sparked up a biotic charge and released a bubble, which expanded into a pulsing, spinning singularity. It sucked the creatures over Suvi into it, giving Sara enough time to grab Suvi's hand and pull her up to her feet, helping her to limp quickly away into the night. She could see with several glances that there were several wounds on Suvi's body, a few rips to her top, a nip on her right hand… and a large amount of blood running down her cheek.

"Hey, stop…" Sara stopped Suvi for a moment, lightly trailing her finger over the bloodied eyelids. She was very precise about her aim, creating the tiniest biotic formation between the eyelids with a pulling force, helping to keep them closed. "Now… let's go."

"Sara… it… it hurts…"

"I know, Suvi, I know it does. Just hang on there, we'll get a distance away, place a beacon and wait for help." Sara answered.

The two managed to travel a couple hundred more meters, until the Nomad, birds and what was now the new breeding ground was far in the distance… then Suvi cried out as a wave of dizziness hit her and her legs gave up, Sara's arms catching her. The position they had… eerily familiar to the Pathfinder.

She shook the dream out of her head. She wasn't losing Suvi, not now, not ever. She swore she'd have to be stone dead before she let that happen.

Eos desert

17:45

Temp. 36.9°C

To: Sara Ryder.

From: Suvi Anwar

Kallo thinks I've lost it because I keep smiling and giggling for no reason. It's not for no reason though. You're the reason.

Suvi

It brought a tiny smile to Sara's face to see that message again. When she met Suvi, when they first lit their love in her Tempest quarters, it had been a brief break from their work. But when she got that message, she just knew that it went beyond a break. They were really something.

The lightly freckled redhead turned off her flickering, damaged omni-tool, returning that arm to lightly rest around the Scottish woman before her, Suvi's eyes closed as she laid the top half of her body on Ryder's lap. She looked down to Suvi's face, her eyes narrowing slightly as she saw that blood still continued to seep from her right eyelids. She couldn't see anything to wipe it away with… in the end, she reached to her shoulder and ripped the sleeve of her top away, making sure to use the inside of it on Suvi, knowing that getting sweat in her eye would be much less of a bother than grains of sand.

In the process of ripping the shirt, however, she'd mistakenly stirred Suvi from her brief rest and quickly placed her hand on the side of her love's face.

"Don't… open your eye, Suv. Just keep it still." Sara said quietly, before she lightly dabbed the cloth at the bloodied eyelids, almost feeling a twinge of that same agony herself as Suvi's pained whimpers hit her ears.

"Sara… d… did you… send out the signal?" Suvi managed to ask as Sara dabbed away the blood.

Sara made sure the blood was gone before she replied. "I did… I hope someone hears it."

Suvi glanced her left eye down, a twinge from her right eye as it tried to match the movement. "Sara, are we… are we going to be okay?"

"Suvi…" She'd answered many people's fear of death before, as a Pathfinder helping people in trouble was practically second only by the main objective. But this was different. Her own life was also in as much risk here, and she wasn't sure she had the heart to tell the one closest to her that they would likely die today.

She wouldn't lie to the woman she loved… so what could she tell her?

"I… sit up. I… need to take a look at that eye."

Suvi nodded and carefully shifted herself upright and up the dune bank slightly to be level with Sara. Ryder's fingertip lightly touched to the eyelids seam, releasing the tiny biotic field she'd used to keep the lids sealed.

"Slowly… carefully, open it carefully."

Suvi did so, slowly parting the lids… Sara's head tilted down slightly, her eyebrows lowering in an anger that was only almost contained. There she saw the eye… or rather, the remains of it.

"Is it… Sara, I can't see from it. Could it be the nerve severed or…" Suvi responded after a moment as she was trying to figure out her sudden blindness, and Ryder again couldn't bring up the words to tell her… but she didn't have to.

Suvi saw the bloodied mess in her eye socket in the reflection of her cracked glasses. "Oh my… Ryder?!"

"Come on… let it rest." Sara finally responded, returning her finger to the eyelids, delicately sealing them with tiny biotics again.

"No… we're not… we're dying here…" Suvi said as her body shook. Sara's arm, despite its bullet wound, went around her back and pulled her close. Finally, she had the words to say to it.

"Suvi… I've died and come back twice before. And… those Remnant, the Kett, even a handful of stupidly violent birds could kill me a hundred, a thousand times over before I'd ever let them come close to ending your life."

Suvi looked back and up at Ryder once she heard that, among a mix of things she was amazed at the words, at how Sara truly was committed to her.

"Sara… I don't know if I could live with that… without you."

The two leant back against the dune, in the blistering heat of the infinite desert. Maybe dreaming of their escape, of finally getting a refreshing shower aboard the Tempest and recovering with each other in the forward quarters. Or maybe they accepted their end, and that in each others arms, here and now, their time would expire.

The blue eyes closed. Then the green eyes closed.

Then the blast of a shuttle's landing thrusters hit their ears.