Disclaimer: I own nothing! Excluding my own OC's, anyway…
A/N: Samus! What a surprise! I wonder if someone else is coming this chapter?
Arrivals
"How do you know my name?" Samus asked, keeping her cannon trained on me. She was wearing a suit I didn't recognize from any of the games, but it certainly looked as if it was fully loaded. It was reminiscent of her fully corrupted suit from the third of the trilogy since it was a luminescent blue color. But as I looked it over, I saw it was of a much more advanced design.
"Because you're awesome…?" I muttered, somewhat helplessly, but kept calm. It was hard not to be a little antsy when Samus Aran, the most notorious bounty (or Pirate) hunter alive had her cannon pointed at you. But at the same time, it was exciting.
"Well, that's nice, but I need you to tell me where I am." she said, lowering her weapon, just slightly.
"You're on the Citadel." I held my hand up to stop her from saying anything yet, "and, before you ask, it's obviously a place that doesn't exist in your reality."
For a moment, she looked at me as if I were insane, but opted to take in the information before saying anything. It was a good thing she was so smart, otherwise she'd have just attacked me on sight. From what I remembered, she was definitely skilled. The kids were hiding behind my legs and I had been carrying Celia, so she was clinging to me and laying on my shoulder.
"Then where am I?" she asked cautiously, eying me through her visor. I could barely see her eyes, but it was easier to see through than the Quarian visors, anyway.
"This is a different dimension entirely. It's a completely different reality, actually." I said, smirking just a bit. I didn't want her to think I was going to attack her, but I didn't want her to think I was just some person, either. It was best to keep a relatively neutral if not helpful atmosphere with her when she was in warrior mode.
"Then how could you possibly know who I am?" she was a quick one to catch the train, now wasn't she?
"Because I'm not from this reality either." I said it simply, hoping she would believe me. But then, with everything she had already gone through, I had a feeling it wouldn't be too hard to convince her.
"Fine. What am I supposed to do now?" she asked, finally deciding to lower her gun. Oddly enough, I had only just realized she never even powered up her cannon. A good sign.
"If you'd like, you can join my crew. It's full of others like us." I raised an eyebrow and gestured to the Oblivion. She took a good look at it before turning back to me thoughtfully. Then, she shrugged slightly and sighed.
"Why not?" she said. I could hear the smile in her voice, as if she was excited to have such an opportunity. Or maybe I was just crazy… oh well.
At that, I lead the way into the airlock of the ship. The kids stuck by my legs the whole time as I gave Samus a tour. She had asked what I was doing with a bunch of children, and, as a reply, the twins harmoniously stated that I was the kids' mom. At the answer, she just looked at me with something akin to confusion, but smiled in return.
After about an hour and a half, we were finished with the tour and I had briefed her on the Mass Effect universe. I told her about the various species and such, making sure to ask her how she had gotten here. She just said that she had just encountered Ripley again, and was about to do battle with it, but then there was a light and that next thing she knew, she was on top of me. I'd mentioned that that had hurt, too.
"Alright, I think I'm good now. Honestly, I'm not even sure I want to go back. Even if I could, there's not really anything there for me, you know?" she said, smiling. I nodded and led the way to the mess hall.
"Then I'd like your help." I said, stopping at the entrance of the room. She looked at me questioningly and raised an eyebrow.
"With what?" she asked.
"With saving this entire damn galaxy from being overrun by a race of giant sentient killing machines who are bent on the absolute destruction of every living being." I took a breath when I finished, noting Samus' wide-eyed expression.
"And I thought the Pirates were bad." she said, chuckling.
We entered the mess hall then and I realized that everyone was there. Of course, the kids were still by my legs. Surprisingly, they had already gotten used to Samus, saying she was a nice lady. Both of us had laughed at the statement.
"Hey! We were beginning to think you got kidnapped again!" Emile laughed out. Everyone joined in and decided to make mocking remarks as Samus and I made our way to the front of the room.
"Yeah, I wasn't in the mood to go running after you again!" Jun chuckled, fist bumping Emile.
"I still need to make another damn tracker too." Kat said, playfully glaring at me. Well, I hoped it was playful, anyway.
"I almost thought that annoying reporter got you!" Carter called.
"You didn't go off with another stranger, did you?" Alexis teased.
"Any insane scientists?" Jorge chuckled, crossing his arms.
"Or more orphans?" Ankou said, earning a punch from the twins.
"I see we have another stray too!" Morena snickered, leaning back in her chair.
All the while, Samus just looked around confusedly. It was actually funny to look at, but when Ankou and Morena mentioned orphans and strays, she tensed up. Only a tad, though. I remembered she was just such a thing, so it was understandable.
"Yeah, yeah, real funny guys. Hilarious." I drawled sarcastically, only eliciting another round of laughter from my teammates. Yoda was just sitting calmly as usual, simply watching. I saw Tana's avatar floating around the room, evidently seeing what would happen. Maybe she was more curious as to the reason of Samus' arrival.
"Anyway, I'd like you all to meet a friend of mine." I said, gesturing to Samus. She simply nodded to everyone, and since she was in her armor, it was hard to see anything anyway. Everyone looked at her for a moment before saying anything.
"So, what's her name?" Carter asked, looking at me seriously again.
"Samus!" Morena exclaimed, finally recognizing the well-known hunter. She immediately stood up and opted to gape in shock, causing Samus to shift a little. She looked at me, then to Samus, then back again.
"Where did you find her?" Morena asked, getting looks of confusion from Noble and Yoda. Ankou knew who she was too, but didn't say anything. He had always said Samus was hot, but rarely played the games. Even so, I've been noticing that he hung out with Alexis much more often. I wasn't sure if it was coincidence or not, but Ankou's been in a good mood the past few days.
"Well, when the kids and I got onto the docks, Samus here popped up." I said, deciding to grab some food. The kids and Samus sat at a table while I got food for them.
"So what's the deal?" Alexis asked, fiddling with her tray of food.
"I've decided to join Crusnik." Samus announced, before I could say anything. I finished with the trays and brought them over to the table. I set one down in front of everyone, and gave Vera a nice, high-quality paste. I then sat down and started to eat too, since I was practically starving. Samus took off her helmet, Letting her long, pulled back blond hair fall out. She and the kids then started to eat as I was.
"Cool." Morena muttered, sitting back down.
"What are the current plans, Cru?" Jorge asked. I looked up from my food and furrowed my brows in thought. After a moment of thinking, I came up with something.
"I think we should look to building an actual crew. You know, the non-ground team people who keep the ship working." I suggested, blowing a bang out of my hair.
"But where are we going to find enough people to work the Oblivion?" Jun asked, taking a bite of his own food.
"I know where we can find a pilot." Tana piped up, floating over to me. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"What's the dossier?" I asked.
"She was the top of her class in Alliance Flight School, broke almost every previous record and was known as the Viper pilot of the fleet. She's a legend in the Alliance, Crusnik." when she finished, I thought this news was too good to be true. But how were we supposed to get her to fly the Oblivion? Was she still in the Alliance?
"Why would she join us?" Carter asked.
" 'Cause she left the Alliance about a year ago, saying the Alliance didn't have 'ships her level'. No one's heard from her since." Tana answered, sounding conspiratorial.
"Again, why would she join us?" Carter said again, furrowing his brows together.
"And if she's disappeared, how are we supposed to find her in the first place?" Ankou wondered.
"Well, the last place she was seen was a planet not far from here. If we're looking for a pilot, she's the best we can find." she finished, circling around our tables.
I wasn't sure if we could find Viper, but even so. If we did, she might not want anything to do with us. Then again, if she saw the Oblivion, I had a feeling she'd at least consider it.
"Set a course, Tana. I have a feeling she'll be there." I announced.
"Wait, Crusnik." she said, sounding annoyed all of a sudden. I looked at her questioningly.
"What?"
"There's someone demanding entry outside the airlock. She says she want to speak to you." Tana said, irritation dripping from her tone. I left the mess hall and entered the elevator. I pushed the button for deck two.
"Who is it?" I asked, as the elevator started it's ascent. Tana had followed me, so her avatar was right beside me.
"She says she's getting impatient. Odd. I haven't heard of that being a name." she said, making me chuckle at her sarcasm. Leave it to Tana to be a smart-ass just like me.
The elevator finally reached deck two and I stepped out with Tana behind me. Once I got to the airlock, she blinked out, saying it would be best if no one saw her. I agreed, then asked her to open the doors. After a short moment, I heard the doors open, close, then start the decon. cycle on the other side. It was a good minute before the inner airlock doors opened, allowing the visitor entry.
"Cru!" Vira stood there, looking a little out of breath. I looked at her for a moment before sighing. What was she doing here? I wondered if she was planning on beating me to a pulp now, since she looked like she thought it may have been a good idea.
"Yes?" I inquired.
"I coming with you!" she declared, poking me again. It hurt, but it made me think it was some kind of habit when she was angry.
"Why?" I questioned, standing still.
"Because you're hopeless without me there to look out for you!" she certainly seemed sold on the idea, but I felt like that was only a half-truth. Then again, it was an obvious fact that I could handle myself just fine.
"Don't you have some mission from the council to go on?" at the question, she glared at me and poked me again.
"Don't start! I'm here and there's no way I'm letting you go skipping around the galaxy without some backup!" as she spoke, I remembered that she had no idea who I already had with me. Sure, she saw Noble, but I feel like she was too enraged at the time to even notice anyone other than me, Ankou and Morena.
"Fine." I lead the way back to the elevator and the two of us made our way back down to deck three. It was a pointed silence the whole way down. The doors opened once more and I brought the two of us to the mess hall. This was making me feel like some sort of chauffer, taking people throughout the ship.
We entered the room to see everyone was eating happily and talking amongst themselves. It was a nicely relaxing atmosphere, but all of us knew we'd rather be off fighting something than hanging around, waiting for cabin fever to set in. they all looked up as we entered, and Ankou greeted Vira as Morena stayed quiet. It may have just been me, but it seemed my good friend was still hurting a little at Vira's earlier anger. It may have been justified, but Morena had always been a tad sensitive when it came to personal matters.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Vira. She's the one who took the three of us in after we first woke up here." I said, getting their attention.
"Ah, so it's her fault you keep taking in strays?" Emile called, grinning widely. I glared at him, sending everyone into fits of laughter. Vira looked at me and then to everyone else as if to say 'there's something wrong with them.'. personally, I thought there was something wrong with all of us. But then, our flaws were what made us who we were. I'd rather have been considered crazy than normal. It was more fun that way.
"She'll be with us from now on, so behave." I said finally, getting small snickers from a few people. I gave Vira my seat, got her food, then excused myself. I needed to think. Crowds weren't my thing, noise wasn't my thing. I made my way to Tana's core room to ensure privacy and sat down. The hum of the smaller core was comforting in a way. I closed my eyes and started to meditate.
…
Great. I'm in this place again. I wondered around for awhile, but soon stopped. It was the same place I came to the first time I met Limbo. At least it was better than having that nightmare again.
"Crusnik…" well, speak of the devil.
"Why are all of these people coming from nowhere? Are you doing this?" I asked, looking around.
"They were chosen to help you." Limbo said, sounding all-knowing as usual.
"Why?"
"To…represent their pasts." awesome. Another cryptic answer.
"You mean, represent their realities? Why would they need to do that?"
"They have seen you. When you arrived, you opened doors long thought closed." it intoned.
"The Reapers saw me and Ankou come to this reality?" I asked. All these questions made me feel stupid, but I wanted answers.
"Yes. They work to harness the powers you have."
"The Force?"
"No. Your people were Creators."
"Creators? Of what?" again, I felt the tug on my gut. It pulled me from the place quickly before I could say anything more.
"Crusnik?" I looked up and saw Tana hovering by me. I felt a little groggy, but nothing big.
"Something wrong?" I asked. She sounded a little worried.
"Are you okay?" she asked. I smiled at her and poke the sphere, making her giggle uncontrollably.
"I'm fin-" suddenly, pain burst through my skull, making me grunt. It pounded on my brain, sending me to the ground.
Visions, memories flashed through my mind. I see trees and people looking down at me, talking to each other. They say I and my brother are the only ones strong enough left. The chosen warriors to be sent far away.
A woman comes into my sight then, looking sad. She looks down at me and my brother as we stand in a drawn circle on the ground. She comes and kisses our foreheads, saying silent prayers for our safety. I cry silently with my brother, with my mother. We say goodbye for the last time.
The pain finally ceased. My eyes cleared out, showing a ceiling instead of trees. I was in the core room…
"Crusnik! What happened?" Tana floated to me hurriedly and settled down beside me. Her tone was rushed and definitely concerned. I slowly sat back up and blinked several times, focusing my vision.
"I remember…" I said, more to myself than anyone.
"You remember what?" she asked, hovering into my line of sight.
"My name…" I was so out of it, I barely registered that she had asked me anything.
"You're Crusnik…" she sounded so confused, I looked at her directly, trying to keep from spacing.
"My real name. It's… Laenaya." I stared at my hand, unblinking. I finally remembered my real name. the one my mother gave to me. I remembered that place and saying goodbye, but not much more. There were more memories, but they were too blurry for me to get anything from them. Maybe, in time, I could recall more.
"Real name? The one you forgot?" I nodded at her question, but stayed quiet. Back then… I could feel something. I was sad to leave, but I felt I had a calling. I felt I needed to carry out my duty to my people. But what was it? They must've sent me and Ankou away for a reason.
"I feel like I should know something, but I can't remember." I muttered, closing my hand into a loose fist.
"Let's not rush it, Cru." I finally looked at Tana. It was the first time she'd called me with the nickname everyone's given me. But I liked it.
"Yeah." I smiled at her and stood slowly, testing my stability. I felt fine, so I made my way to the cockpit and checked our course. Apparently, we had arrived at the planet already. I wondered how long I was MIA, but it didn't really matter too much. I had gotten sleep and some answers, so that was enough for me to recharge, so to speak.
"Tana, tell everyone to suit up, we're going in." I said, already heading to the armory and getting my own armor on. No one had recognized the design so far, and I wondered if Limbo had something to do with it. I didn't recognize it as any type from any of the games I'd played, Mass Effect included. Another odd thing about it though, was that it fit perfectly to my body, as if it was made for me.
…
"So, how long have we been searching?" Ankou asked. He had told me back on the ship that he had a similar flashback to mine, and visions of seeing Limbo. I remembered his real name was Andric, but the both of us decided to keep it on the DL, just in case. We agreed it was also easier if everyone just kept calling us by our codenames, instead of switching up on them.
In any case, we had already landed on the colony Tana told us about that should've had at least something on Viper. So far though, we haven't found anything. All of us had spit up to cover more ground, too, since the sight of a bunch of highly armed soldiers would scare everyone away. Yoda decided to stay on the Oblivion again, citing old age as a bad thing to travel with. We also left the kids with him, since it would be stupid to carry kids around everywhere we went.
"About two hours." Morena said, looking at her Omni-tool. Ankou sighed and slumped his shoulders a little.
"It's alright, bro. We'll find Viper soon." I assured him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. He just grunted and continued walking. Oddly enough though, this colony was quiet. There wasn't anyone in sight and the only sounds were our footfalls on the dirt path. I had a bad feeling at the situation, but paid it no mind until we actually hit ground. The place looked like any normal colony, but the population was nonexistent.
A few minutes later, I heard a bang and then a crash inside one of the houses. The three of us exchanged glances, and went to investigate.
"Teams two and three, we think we found something. Moving to investigate." Morena said through the comm, getting affirmations from the other teams. Emile, Carter, Vira and Kat made team two, while Samus, Jorge, Jun and Alexis made team three.
"Anyone want to guess what that was?" Ankou inquired, looking ready for a fight. I shrugged and moved through the door into the house. It was a simple place with the necessities, but nothing that screamed poor. We split up, me taking the ground floor, Ankou taking upstairs and Morena taking the other side of the house on the ground level.
A few seconds of searching later, I came across a hunched figure hiding in the closet. I called my companions over and squinted to see better. The lighting in the house was off, so I couldn't make anything out in detail.
"Come out, I'm not going to hurt you." I spoke softly to the being as Ankou and Morena joined me. It hesitated for a moment, as if weighing it's options, then slowly scooted forward, out of the closet. Morena turned on the light so we could see. I could see the hunched figure was a Salarian. He looked terrified of something, but I couldn't tell what.
"What's wrong? Where is everyone?" Ankou questioned, making the Salarian jump a little.
"T-they were all t-taken…" he said. I could see him trembling all over, most likely traumatized.
"By who?" Morena asked, before I could say anything. He looked up at us as if just realizing we were there, and clasped his hands together.
"B-by the slavers. B-batarians came and took them all t-to the main building." he must've been talking about the large building down the road. It seemed to be the main head of operations for the colony and such, keeping it running.
"Do you know if a woman named Viper lives here?" I wondered aloud, catching the Salarian's attention.
"Y-yes, she goes to the bar occasionally." he answered. At least there was some good news in all this. I exited the building after telling the Salarian to keep low and started for the building.
"We got a situation, everyone." I said, talking over our comm line.
"What is it?" Carter asked, sounding bored. I could relate.
"Slavers have the colony up at the main building." I said. I could hear the sighs over the comm, but said nothing. Slavers weren't exactly our favorite people in the galaxy. Actually, they were on our Hate List. Right along with Kalisah and Thresher Maws.
"Then let's not waste any time." Samus said, sounding excited. At least we'd finally get to fight something for once.
A/N: Sorry for cutting it short you guys, but I want to get a really good fight scene down. Anyway, review and tell me what you think!
