Chapter 7: New Discoveries
Colony Vessel, in orbit of New Krypton.
One day later...
What now? Tossing aside her datapad, Krista huffed in frustration and got up from her bed as the door slid open with a pleasant sounding chime. Months after they had returned from the Citadel, everyone had seemed particularly preoccupied with trying to lift her spirits. Kara, Kal, Jor, Lara and Faora, even Zod himself, had done their best. All with varying methods, some more successful than others.
Zod's idea of 'fun', for example, seemed to be guiding Krista through a training course with stun ammunition, lots of ammunition. And all of it was directed at the participant being taught, namely her. One of Faora's hand to hand combat sessions usually left her sore for a week, but Krista was determined to find a way to eventually knock the smug officer on her ass. Usually exhausted from her military training, Krista reserved Jor's private lessons on mathematics, ethics, philosophy, and history for a much needed nap. Kara was always smart enough to have something full of sugar and caffeine waiting for her. The cheery blonde's idea of a lesson plan usually involved simply tearing some piece of tech apart and thoroughly explaining to her fascinated human pupil how it worked. Lara was always there with a patient ear or a hot meal, always ready to answer Krista's questions about, well, nearly everything.
And Kal, well Kal tried to be the best brother and 'secret guardian' one could wish for. He always tried to be there for her if he could, and she caught him more than once following her. To, in his own words, "Make sure that you don't get all mopey without me." She still couldn't really decide if that was really sweet or kinda creepy.
Staring at the young, fidgeting intruder hesitantly walking into her room, Krista crossed her arms and put on her best annoyed expression. "I know I locked that. And I'm sure you know it's rude to invade people's privacy right?"
"It doesn't stop Kara from keeping an eye on you." Kal retorted, trying to sound braver than he felt as he slowly closed the distance between them.
Krista rolled her eyes and pretended to go back to her reading. "She taught you how to hack my door, didn't she? I bet Jor and Lara wouldn't be very pleased if they found out."
"I figured it out myself." Kal replied with a shrug of his small shoulders. "Kara tried to teach me how to hack the cameras in the hallway so they would alert me everytime you leave your room. I declined."
Krista managed to hide her outraged glare behind the datapad. Maybe she could talk Kara into joining her for one of Zod's training sessions when they got back. "Glad to hear it, but you wanna explain to me why you look so damn nervous Kal? Other than the fact I'm ten seconds away from kicking you out of here."
"I'm worried about you Krista. You're still far too mopey for my taste. And it's my job to cheer you up. Remember?" He told her honestly, with a hesitant but teasing smirk. "So, why are you all cramped up in your room?"
"It's called 'me time', human thing, you wouldn't understand."
"Well I certainly won't be able to understand it if you don't explain it to me." Kal replied stubbornly, something he probably got from his father.
He's certainly annoying enough to be a little brother, that must be universal or something. "Kal...I'm going to say this nicely. Go. Away." Krista's eyebrows went up as Kal, undeterred, walked over to her small desk / eating area. She never bothered using the table in her room.
"I could lower the gravity for you on this entire deck." Kal helpfully said with a sudden burst of inspiration as he pushed aside a half eaten salad and started tapping at a control panel without a second thought. "Then you'd only need to wear a breath- oops." Kal only remembered that the gravity in Krista's room had already been greatly lowered for her personal comfort when loose objects started to freely fly about the cabin, himself and Krista included. "Um... I can fix this."
Despite the fact she was currently upside down and three feet off the ground, Krista could only shake her head at Kal's guilty expression. As much as she wanted to be angry at him, she couldn't bring herself to yell a kid who was just trying to help her. In his own sweet, incredibly annoying way.
Instead, she reached out to tap against a wall with her finger, already feeling queasy, but she repressed the urge to throw up easily enough thanks to a handful of zero gee lessons from Versa and Pross. Personally, she thought it was just a clever excuse for the couple to have a disguised romantic outing. Hopefully Pross listened to her about the flowers too, he'd be hard pressed to find any within a few light years, but that was his problem.
As she pushed away and slowly drifted across the room, Krista's thoughts shifted back to the problem at hand. Kal wasn't faring as well, being stuck in mid air without any nearby surfaces to press against, and looked to be five seconds away from panicking as he clutched at his stomach.
"Kal. Don't you dare puke in my room." Krista growled, more in an attempt to distract him than intimidate the distraught boy as she made her over way to him. Thanks to her whopping forty-seven minutes of weightlessness 'training', she knew how to handle herself slightly better than he did.
Kal nodded earnestly, which probably only added to the churning feeling in his gut as he started to spin head over heels from his rapid head movement. "Krista, I think- I think I'm gonna-"
"No, you're not Kal." Krista said, just as she caught him and grabbed onto the nearest thing she could, her unused small table, which was thankfully bolted down and not currently floating about the room. "Just breathe. Nice slow breaths." Krista felt her annoyed scowl turning into a grin of satisfaction as the boy slowly began to calm down. "There you go. Now, if I can get you back to that panel, do you think you can fix this before-"
"Kal, what did you do this time?" Krista's grin vanished as a vaguely familiar voice came from the doorway. She turned her head to see a small, dark haired young girl gazing at them with a curious look in her ice blue eyes. Krista remembered meeting her a few times before, but at that time she hadn't really cared to learn the girls name or anything else for that matter.
"Oh. Hi Narina! Nothing to worry about, I've got this." Kal said confidently and reached for the nearest control panel, or rather he tried to. Kal and Krista continued to haplessly drift about the center of her room while Narina stared at them, narrowing her icy blue eyes.
"I believe you are underestimating the severity of the situation."
"We'll handle it Narina."
"Apologies, but I feel that I must assist you, Krista Jor-El"
"It's Shepard, and thanks but no thanks. Come on Kal, work with me here. All we need to do is-"
"Narina, on second thought it seems like we could use you help, please?" Kal asked the girl who still stood in the doorway with her arms crossed.
"Of course, Kal." Narina said with a small smile and stepped carefully into the room, before she gracefully floated to the nearest control panel and made a few adjustments. Krista and Kal crashed into the floor as soon as the gravity returned, and Kal made sure Krista landed on top of him as not to injure her.
"Ow." Krista muttered as she quickly looked Kal over before helping him to his feet. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, sorry Krista. I was only-" Kal began to apologize before he was interrupted by Krista.
"Don't do that again. Ever." Krista couldn't keep a stern expression on her face to save her life as she playfully tussled the boy's dark hair.
"Are you both uninjured?"
"We're fine." Krista was beginning to think the unnervingly stoic young girl was immune to sarcasm as she merely nodded her head.
"Good. Kal, now that I have found you, would you be interested in a sparring match? " Narina asked Kal while completely ignoring Krista.
"Umm, maybe later. I planned to watch some human vids with Krista, would you like join us?"
Narina sent an ice cold look at Krista before looking back at Kal. "Another time perhaps, I wouldn't want to impose. See you later Kal, Krista."
"Thank you for your help Narina!" Kal's goofy grin said it all as he gave Narina a friendly wave before she nodded and turned to leave.
"Yeah, I owe you one... kiddo." Krista managed to hold back her smirk as an icy fire smoldered in Narina's blue eyes for the briefest of moments. Before she got the chance to respond the doors to Shepard's quarter's closed before her. "Oops."
A confused Kal turned to see Krista pulling her hand back from the desk control panel. "Krista! That was rude. She only wanted to help us." Kal said, more than a little annoyed.
"I know." Krista tapped at her chin in thought before once again retrieving her discarded datapad. "And who shut off the gravity again?"
"That was my fault! There was no reason to take it out on her." He argued back, still peeved about the treatment his friend had received.
"Fine. I'll apologize to your little girlfriend later, alright?" Krista answered with a teasing glint in her eyes.
"What's so funny? Narina's my friend, and she's a girl. So I guess that word makes sense. Is this some human thing again?"
"Yeah, it's some human thing. One question though, does your mother know that she's your girlfriend?" Krista inquired, doing her best to look innocent.
"Mother...hasn't asked me about her yet. I just forgot to mention it. Do you think I should tell her?"
"Oh, definitely. It's important for her to know." Krista said with a straight face while nodding seriously. "I'm sure she'll want to talk all about it with you."
"Um...do you think I should go tell her now?"
"Kal, I think that's a great idea! But before you go, could you clean this place up?" Krista gestured to the general mess that was her room, clothing, overturned furniture, a few treasured gifts, and the rest of her uneaten salad now decorating the floor, walls and ceiling.
"Oh! Right, sorry Krista." Kal rapidly set to righting her quarters as Krista layed back down on her bed with her datapad and gave a contented sigh.
Kal cleaned up her room with surprising speed. While he did so, Krista continued to read and only pointed something out to him when he overlooked something. She felt a tinge of guilt making him scrub her salad off the ceiling, but she figured Lara or Jor would have done the same thing in her place.
"All done. You-you won't tell mother about this, will you?"
"I wouldn't do that Kal, you missed a shirt by the way." Krista absently pointed to a green blouse on her storage compartment that Kal neatly folded and tucked away.
"Thank you, Kal. You have been a great help." She told him smiling, maybe she could get used to him as a little brother. If she was being honest with herself, she already had. Great, and here comes the guilt. "Um... Kal. You did see what a mess this place was when you walked in right?"
Kal just turned and smiled. "I know. But I like spending time with you, and half of it was my fault anyway." Before Krista could say another word Kal headed for the door but paused as it opened, tossing Krista what they called a command key. "Here, that's the only one I made. Not even Kara can hack your door if you use it. See you later Krista."
Staring at the black metallic device in her palm, Krista gazed at the House of El seal engraved into it and grinned, tucking the small object into her pocket.
Two hours later…
Krista rolled her grey eyes, having barely gotten through two chapters of the assignment Jor had left for her during his glorified galactic tour. She found herself reading it more for the witty notes and annotations he had added to the text. I swear to Rao, eerrr God , if I have to hear that damn chime one more time today... "Come in!"
She was prepared for many things, possibly Jor and the others had returned sooner than she'd expected, or maybe Kal wanted to hang out again, but she never expected to see a troubled looking Lara in her doorway. "Krista, may we speak?" She asked in a confused voice, like she couldn't quite believe what she was going to ask. "Kal came to me...and told me that his girlfriend is Narina. You once told me that one of many human words for mate is girl or boyfriend. I am so confused, why does he even think about something like that? He is too young!" Lara blurted out and looked like she was about to have a panic attack. "I feel as if I know hardly anything of value to tell him, Jor and I barely knew what we were doing and-"
Krista held up a hand, grateful for the fact the Lara hadn't noticed the guilty expression she quickly hid from the flustered woman. "Lara. It's okay, just take a deep breathe." Didn't think I'd be saying that twice today when I woke up. "I'm sure everything's alright with Kal, and I highly doubt he's interested in... you know."
"But, if he does have feelings for this girl... Krista, I came here because I had hoped you might be able to give me some advice on this matter. If not a 'girl or boyfriend" surely you at least had a um...what did you call it when someone is interested in a potential bondmate and the other party is unaware of this?"
"A crush?"
"Yes! Exactly, surely you must have had a 'crush' when you were Kal's age."
"Uh...sort of. But in my case the other party was much older than me, and her mother couldn't stand me." Krista admitted, when she saw Lara's confused look she elaborated. "Well, she was an asari, they live way longer than humans. And I don't know if you guys know this but sometimes someone is attracted to the same gender as one self."
"I see. We have little experience in such matters. Kal was the first natural birth in many centuries. Before that we were conceived in so called Genesis-chambers, similar to cloning." Lara explained obviously happy to think about something else.
"Wait...you were all 'born' in these chambers?" Krista's revulsion was palpable and she forced herself not to openly show it. Must have slept through that class. If Jor mentioned it to begin with. "So you and Jor... ah, tried it the old fashioned way and had Kal?"
Despite Lara's obvious discomfort speaking of such things, there was a look of unadulterated pride in her kind brown eyes "Yes. We knew that such an act would have severe consequences, shortly before we left Krypton such a thing was considered heresy."
"Heresy? Wow, isnt that a little extreme?" Krista couldn't help but asking, on the other hand humans still did stupid things over a difference in opinion so she supposed they weren't any better.
"Jor and I believed that our society had stagnated and the only way to change for the better was natural reproduction. But we are getting off track, what should I do about Kal?"
"Just send him to me. I can talk to him about it, don't worry Lara. I'll take care of it." Krista said and put a hand on the older woman's shoulder. One day I'm going to tell her the truth, just not today. Shepard swore to herself.
"Thank you Krista." The intense gratitude in Lara's eyes almost made Krista blurt out the truth then and there, but she stopped herself, barely.
"And never doubt that you are a great mother, just because you don't know something doesn't mean that you aren't. I am pretty sure that my own parents often had no idea what to say." Krista assured her, she already felt like a horrible person for lying, no sense in making Lara doubting herself. "There's this old human saying, 'children don't come with instruction manuals.' You have to make it up as you go."
Lara's gentle laughter was music to Krista's ears. "How true. I'll be sure to let Kal know you wish to speak with him." Just like Kal had done before her, Lara paused by the door while Krista pretended to study. "Krista. I won't forget this."
"Just one last question, do you know when Jor and Kara will return?" Krista asked, hopefully soon, Kara could help her with this situation and Jor's reaction would most likely be far calmer than Lara's.
"Jor and the others still have to complete multiple diplomatic missions, so I am unaware of exactly when they will return." Lara answered truthfully, and left Krista to 'study'.
Earth
United North American States, Vancouver
Alliance Headquarters
"Nice place." Kara's voice dripped with sarcasm as she swept her gaze over the simple metallic floor and mostly bare gunmetal grey walls. A few flags, emblazoned with the Systems Alliance symbol, hung from the ceiling. They were the only decorations she saw in the rather spartan lobby as she and her father, Zor, walked amidst an entourage of Alliance marines designated as their 'Honor Guard'.
"Should I be worried? It feels like we're being led to our execution or something." That got an uneasy chuckle from a few of the men and women around them. "Glad to see you folks have a sense of humor."
Their own 'Honor Guard' remained stoically silent, the four black clad soldiers just seemed to glare at everything and everyone around them through their blackened helmets. They certainly weren't improving the mood any, at least in Kara's opinion. Cradling their battle rifles in their arms, ready to eliminate any threat at a moment's notice, didn't exactly reek of trust and understanding.
Zor sighed and shook his head, wondering if Jor had chosen wisely after all. While brilliant and compassionate, Kara's occasional naivety and lack of tact could pose a severe challenge to the successful completion of these negotiations. "Sometimes I wonder where you got your spirited personality from Kara."
"It certainly wasn't from you. Good thing the genesis chamber I sprang from had a better sense of humor." Kara was once again rewarded with quiet, if slightly confused, laughter.
While Kara knew she couldn't have asked for a better mentor and guardian than Zor, she sometimes felt the slightest tinge of jealousy towards Kal. He had two parents that had always been a part of his life from the day he was born, rather than being conceived from a soulless machine like she and millions of others had been. He had felt and been given love and attention all his life, while she had been handed off to Zor like a prized specimen. She winced when she realized how harsh that sounded, even though it was in her own mind, but it didn't change the facts. Zor truly loved her, naturally conceived or not, and he had never given her anything but the affections and patience of a devoted father.
And to be honest, Kara had to admit she wasn't exactly unbiased. She had been among the first to coo over the newly born Kal. It wasn't her fault that he was such a cute and adorable baby. In return, he had been a wonderful cousin, and she was sure that he loved her just as much as she loved him. I guess a happy family is where you find it. And with Krista in the mix, things are going to be really interesting. She thought to herself with a small smile, before she frowned, knowing exactly what her honorary human cousin would say to her right now, and decided to apologize to her father.
Before she got a chance though, an older gentleman saw the guilty expression on her face and jarred her from her incriminating thoughts. "You alright ma'am? Seem a bit lost."
"Good thing we have all these nice, helpful, well armed people to guide us." Kara tried not to stare at the imposing scar that ran from the man's right cheek bone to his upper lip. The only problem was that left her staring into his piercing blue gaze instead. Geez, he looks like he's making a list of the best ways kill me. "Yeah. Just stunned by this boring, austere vibe you humans seem to love so much. Gunmetal gray on gunmetal gray, not exactly the first choice I'd go for in interior decorating."
Once more, Zor was sorely tempted to intervene before things deteriorated, but Kara's sarcasm was met with a light hearted chuckle from the gentleman next to her, as well as a number of quiet snickers from everyone else. Their personal guards remained as stoic as ever, with the exception of Pross giving a curious tilt of his head. "I admit it does get dull after a while. Why do you think I prefer to be out there." The officer's eyes briefly flicked skyward before settling back on Kara. "Rather than chained to a desk?"
"Kara Zor-El." Kara seemed to surprise the grizzled looking human by offering her hand. Yet another interesting human custom she'd have to thank Krista for sharing with her. "The slightly nervous, frowning gentleman next to me is Zor-El, my father."
"Captain Steven Hackett, it's a pleasure to meet you Kara Zor-El." The newly identified Captain introduced himself while shaking her hand. Before holding his hand out towards her father who, after brief hesitation, shook it. "Your daughter's one hell of a spitfire sir, you should be proud."
Not sure if that was indeed a compliment or not, Zor merely nodded. "She does have a tendency to speak her mind, nonetheless I am quite proud of her, she is everything I could have wished for in a child." The last part was directed more at Kara than at Hackett, and it was accompanied by a familiar small smile.
Zor found himself pleasantly surprised by the rather intimidating looking officer's friendliness. He hadn't expected such a thing after the tales he had heard about young Krista, but mentally scolded himself a moment later. The actions of a few hardly reflected on a whole race of people. And I suspect, not the first time, that the other races of this new galaxy may prove to be more advanced than us in certain ways. We may have the edge in technology but their society itself seems to be in general...superior for the lack of a better term. Zor thought quietly to himself, on Krypton they had councillors who were specifically created for their role, who ruled their whole life. And the kryptonian lifespan is long, too long some would undoubtedly say.
He shook himself out of his thoughts just in time to see that Hackett's omni-tool lit up when he was contacted. While he himself only raised a curious eyebrow, he could see the slight twitch of Kara's right eye as she used every bit of self-restraint to keep herself from grabbing the tool and ripping it apart. He wasn't worried though, as curious and rebellious she sometimes acted, he knew that she would never risk a diplomatic incident just to satisfy her insatiable curiosity.
Hackett, for his part, was fixated on the message he had received. It was from a secretary of the Admiralty. If he read it correctly, then the brass had decided to postpone everything but their meeting with the kryptonian delegation, and he was supposed to get them to them, ASAP. Even more surprising was the fact that they wanted him to be present during the negotiations.
Not sure exactly why he was being shoehorned into a political meeting, he decided to address his two charges. "The Admiralty is now prepared to meet you. If you would please follow me?" With that said he turned and led them towards the conference room that had been specifically prepared for this meeting, despite the rather short notice. In return the one called Zor simply nodded while his daughter underwent a surprising transformation from sarcastic and carefree to stoic and guarded, even her eyes became harder to read. So the kid finally dropped her cheery airhead act, nice to see she isn't screwing around anymore. I'd be proud to have her under my command, if I wasn't terrified of what she would do to my ship.
Fleet Admiral Vivian Socar turned to greet their honored guests, or as she prefered to think of them a possible threat that the Alliance could turn to their favor. Considering they had snubbed the Citadel Council and were still alive to talk about it, said quite a bit.
Rear Admiral and living legend, Jon Grissom, for his part, seemed bored at best as the aged man glanced at their new arrivals with a raised eyebrow. "They pulled my ass out of retirement to shake hands with nutjobs in capes. Wonderful. I could be working on my tan on that nudist beach on Elysium, but no, I'm here at the ass end of the galaxy, freezing my balls off." His barely audible whisper wasn't quite as unheard as he would have liked.
"Sorry we ruined your plans." Kara said with a wink as she walked by the elderly officer.
If Grissom was surprised she had heard his whisper, the Admiral didn't let it show on his face. "At least you have manners kid. You could lose the cape though, looks a bit ostentatious." Grissom replied, his mood going from annoyed to mildly amused at the drop of a hat.
Zor realized too late what Jon had started as Kara's blue eyes lit up like a super nova. "And you could stand to lose a few pounds, looks like we saved those poor beach goers quite the horrific sight."
Behind her, Zor-El slowly closed his eyes and tried to keep his mortification in check, something he spectacularly failed to do. He needn't have worried though as Grissom threw back his head and laughed at the cheeky blonde before him. "Oh, I like you already."
"Yeah well, I have that effect on people. Speaking of effect, I'm surprised you didn't lose what's left of your hair when you took the first human ship through that relay all those years ago." Kara shot back without missing a beat.
"I'm kinda surprised myself, truth be told." Grissom chuckled, ignoring the 'coughs' from his fellow Admirals and Captains. "Never had much to lose in the first place, so it wouldn't have been a great loss." Grissom leaned closer to place a conspiratorial whisper in the younger girl's ear. "Between you and me, I hate being trotted out as their golden boy for these alien 'meet and greets.' No offense young lady. I was stupidly brave and took a monumental risk. As far as I'm concerned they could have just sent a space hamster and given the damn Star of Terra to the thing."
"Perhaps, but a trained hamster wouldn't have been quite so good looking on camera." Even the hard faced Hackett had to crack a smile when Grissom roared his laughter to the ceiling after Kara finished talking.
An annoyed cough got their collective attention as Socar walked over to greet them. "If we're quite done with the friendly chat, we have business to attend to."
"Don't get your panties in a twist Vivian. The young lady and I were having a pleasant conversation." Grissom retorted dismissively, ignoring the scathing look Socar threw his way. "What? Would you like to drum me out of the service ma'am? By all means, please do."
"As much as I agree with Admiral Socar, getting rid of you now would be kind of a moot point, wouldn't you say?" Grissom only huffed in annoyance, knowing when he was being outmaneuvered as Hackett interrupted the Fleet Admiral before she did something the media would no doubt crucify her off later. While the meeting was a closed session, that certainly hadn't stopped the fiasco on the Citadel from getting out.
"I suppose you're right Hackett, no point in beating a half dead horse is there? So, let's get this over with. You and your old man here came to us, I get the impression we'd be wise to listen to whatever you have to say, eh kid?" The elderly human more stated then asked.
"Grissom…." Vivian groaned, having taken her seat by that point once it became clear that the meeting had devolved into a three ring circus, with Jon in the center of the action. Why she had let Parliament pressure her into temporarily reinstating the insufferable old son of a bitch was beyond her.
Kara however slowly began to smile. "It seems like the half dead horse still has its wits wouldn't you agree?"
The Fleet Admiral's hazel eyes flicked between the young blonde alien girl, her flustered father, and her other, far less welcomed guest, before letting out a forced chuckle. "That he does. The Alliance is indebted to Admiral Grissom for his heroic accomplishments. And I'm sure he won't mind signing autographs and having pictures taken after we have gotten through this meeting."
"What do I look like, a porno vid st-" Grissom flinched and rubbed at his side while Hackett did his best to not to glare at the man. "Pictures, great."
"Well, considering how he spent the last few years avoiding the media, I would think he would mind. Am I right Admiral?" Kara asked innocently.
"Hell yes, the kid's right." Before Vivian could open her mouth to continue, Grissom muttered. "But, for her, I might make an exception." He failed to notice the gigantic grin on Kara's face.
"Before we get anymore sidetracked, allow me to explain to this venerable gathering as to why we're here." Zor stated, once again silencing Socar, Kara, or Grissom before they could try to take control of the conversation again. "While we are here under a diplomatic truce, in the hopes that we can discuss the possibility of a future alliance between our two people, we have a personal reason for coming here. We wish to offer you, um-" Zor fumbled for a moment, searching for the right human expression before Kara took pity on him.
"An olive branch dad, we're extending an olive branch. Whatever that is." Kara shrugged, since she wasn't exactly a specialist on Terran botany. Yet.
Zor resisted the urge to roll his eyes before turning back to the gathered men and women before them. "Thousands of your years ago, our people, kryptonians, sent out thousands of scout ships to every corner of the universe. It was an ambitious project, used to find worlds we might one day inhabit should the need ever arise, but our elder council shut the project down long ago. It was their first of many mistakes."
"Let me guess, one of these ancient scout ships ended up in Alliance space and you want it back?" Jon asked, interrupting Zor's no doubt prepared speech, much to the kryptonian's annoyance and Vivian's badly hidden glee. "Can't fault them for wanting their property back."
"Except it's not theirs if it landed on one of our worlds." Another of the officers said, drawing their attention to him in a heartbeat. "It became Alliance property the moment it broke atmo on one of our planets. Which means any technology onboard is also ours. Don't tell me we're going to let them take such a crucial advantage away from us when we could be facing a full scale war in a matter of months?!"
Once again, Kara dropped the cheery act and rounded on the man that had spoken. Any trace of humor in her blue eyes had disappeared, leaving a coldness that had the Captain considering the fastest way out of the conference room. "We had no intention of leaving you defenseless, but neither were we going to leave such dangerous technology in your hands. Your species clearly isn't ready for power of that magnitude. We've seen the consequences of sharing advanced technology with sapient species who weren't prepared to handle it. Two species in our home galaxy are still fighting a war after five centuries, with neither side gaining an advantage. All because of a scout ship captain who foolishly took pity on one of them."
"Who were they?" Vivian asked curiously, while a part of her wondered if this particular story had a happy ending. Something in the girl's steely blue gaze said it didn't.
"Thanagarians, a noble and warrior like race of humanoid beings, who possessed wings which enabled them to fly. Their enemies, the Gordanians, a particularly ruthless reptilian race, were their bitter rivals for centuries and considered themselves to be the superior species. Unless something changed, they are no doubt still at war." Zor explained with deep regret in his voice.
"And why didn't you help them? I can't imagine anyone being stupid enough to fight you folks." Jon stated, having seen the combat vids while they were on Mindoir. "If one of your people caused this mess then I figure that means it was your responsibility to clean it up."
"We tried, but it was far too late by then." Zor replied, holding back far more than he was willing to admit right then. The simple fact that the elder council had 'shared' the technology on purpose in an effort to weaken both the Thanagarians and their rivals was only the tip of the iceberg. But Zor had the distinct feeling that sharing the depth of their former governing body's corruption would do them no good in these, or any other negotiations for that matter.
"Because we had our own problems. The fact we faced a massive energy crisis didn't help matters." Kara quipped in sarcastic annoyance. She didn't mention the fact the council was to blame since the energy requirements of their Genesis Chambers had been astronomical, but someone's bright idea of population and genetic control had been more important. The only reason she knew about it was because she had checked the old records, and had been astonished by just how much power their old way of life had required.
"And who or what gave you the right to play God?! You purport to be here under a flag of truce, yet you talk about how you let two races annihilate each other, and threaten to leave us just as defenseless!" The rather hostile human officer from before shouted at them.
"Let's make a few things clear shall we? While one of our own made the mistake of sharing the technology, it was by their own free will that the Thanagarians decided to use it to wage war instead of seeking peace. And if we had merely wanted our ship, then we could have taken it and left before you had even noticed something was wrong." Kara said, her eyes as cold as space itself which she used to glare at the yet to be identified man. "So save yourself from further embarrassment and let the adults talk."
The man stood to his feet so quickly his chair grated across the floor. "How dare you speak to me like-"
"No, how dare you try to turn this into a pissing match Boris. From what I've heard, your weapon of choice is under powered and outdated. Admiral Socar, permission to cold cock Mikhailovich?" Grissom drawled apparently bored again, but his eyes held a calculating glint in them.
"Permission denied, but I think it's past time you left this meeting Captain Mikhailovich. Immediately." Socar didn't raise her voice, but the temperature in the conference room still dropped like a stone when she let her gaze fall on the disgraced captain.
Only after the man had been marched out of the room, with two armed guards at his side, did Jon decide to speak up again. "Alright, lets cut to the chase shall we? You obviously are willing to share some of your technology with us or you wouldn't have even mentioned the damn thing. So where exactly is this missing scout ship of yours?" Fleet Admiral Socar asked impatiently. Clearly these Kryptonians were prepared to share some of their tech to prevent another diplomatic incident, something that could only help the Alliance in the long run.
"One moment." Socar frowned as Kara stuck a finger in her face, preoccupied with an odd liquid metallic device in her palm. "Hmm, structure seems intact, power systems are online, energy cells at 62%, main drive looks undamaged. She's in pretty good shape despite being buried under three miles of ice. Activating thrusters and sublight engines. You should pick it up right about now..." When nothing happened, Kara blinked owlishly and shook her datapad in frustration. "Blasted piece of-"
Suddenly, a blaring alert sounded in the chamber as the screens along one wall filled with worried looking junior officers who frantically began warning the Admirals of an unknown contact that had appeared out of thin air in the far northern reaches of the UNAS. The only warning they had was a blinding flash of blue light before a strange looking ship flew out of a disturbance in space time just outside of Vancouver before making a beeline for Alliance HQ.
"Did you really have to activate the phantom drive inside their atmosphere Kara?" Zor said with a look of dumbfounded frustration on his face. "That was unnecessary! What if-."
"Please dad, give me a little credit. There was never any danger, I double checked everything. No settlements in the near vicinity, I never would have done it otherwise. " Kara defended herself, but was still quite proud of the fast calculations that had seen the scout ship out of its icy tomb and heading straight for the Alliance headquarters.
"Well, would you look at that..." Grissom had been the first to spot the approaching vessel since every other officer in the room had their eyes pealed to the screens and not the large window behind them. "Might make getting shanghaied back into my dress blues worth it after all."
Kara glanced at the wizened old officer with mock curiosity. "Hmm. I don't suppose you'd mind being the second human to board a kryptonian ship?"
"As the senior ranking officer present I-"
Even as Socar quickly attempted to take control of the situation, Grissom beat her to the punch. "Deal. She's a beauty. And only a scout class huh? I'd like to see what passes for a frigate or a cruiser in your navy."
Zor was certain that if Zod had been present, he would have throttled Kara for what almost came out of her mouth a moment later. "Actually, aside from scout craft and shuttles-"
"We also possess a formidable navy." Zor was quick to add in, hoping that his brother's attempt of forging an alliance with the quarians would bear fruit, otherwise he'd look like a fool if the Alliance was ever able to call his bluff.
"I see." Socar replied, a slightly skeptical tone in her voice. She let her suspicions go, and turned to the window at last. Seeing the ship for herself almost made her forget the near slip up by the young blonde kryptonian girl. "If you are willing to let Grissom aboard, then you won't have a problem with the rest of the Admiralty I take it? And a few well trained inspection personnel." It wasn't a request.
"Inspection? Or a team handpicked of engineers that might try to take our ship apart while we aren't looking? Because you can take that idea and flush it out an airlock." Kara growled, the only thing stopping her from locking the scout ship to any attempt at tampering was her father's hand on her shoulder.
Zor was quick to intervene before Kara did anymore damage. "We have faith in your collective experience to use what you're able to discover safely. That said, any systems we deem too dangerous at this time have already been disabled. I would highly suggest that you do not attempt to investigate them further upon boarding."
"Any deactivated consoles might just explode in your face. Either that or the entire ship will self destruct." Kara swept her eyes over the row of less than pleased faces. "Who knows?"
"Will they at least give us a warning before it explodes in our face?" Grissom asked, unable to suppress the grin that was on his face even if his life depended on it.
Kara tapped at her small device before looking up with a grin. "They will now. Exactly ten seconds beforehand. Should be plenty of time."
"Oh good, no worries then." Jon retorted, just a hint of amused sarcasm filtering into his voice before he clapped his hands in excitement. "So, let's get started shall we? Let's hope Vivian's sticky fingers can go a day without removing Vancouver from the face of the Earth."
Socar suddenly didn't look quite as confident as she had five seconds ago. "It-it couldn't really do that could it? This ancient ship of yours?"
Kara cupped her chin a thought, as if she were trying to calculate a particularly vexing quantum equation. "Actually... what do you call the region around this city?"
Even Jon was a little uncertain of going into the scout ship at Kara's question. "You mean like individual states or provinces?" Kara nodded in reply. "It's called British Columbia."
"Well you would unfortunately lose that and perhaps a bit more surrounding it. Only a quarter of this continent at worst." Kara fibbed all too believably for Zor's taste. She had simply programmed the scout vessel to fly to the newly terraformed planet their colony ship now orbited if so much as one locked out system was tampered with, but he didn't feel the urge to tell the humans that. Especially after Captain Mikhailovich's display.
Clever girl. "Oh." Grissom turned to stare at Socar and gestured to the room at large. Vivian, my fellow Admirals, would you kindly not screw with the ship shaped doomsday device landing outside this complex as I speak? Everybody got that? Good." Walking up to Kara with a spring in his step, Jon held out his arm to the lady. "After you my dear."
Jon was mildly disappointed when Kara stepped ahead of him and shot him a cheeky grin over her shoulder. "Don't mind if I do, even if you are old enough to be my grandfather. Versa, would you please escort Admiral Grissom during his inspection tour? A man of his stature deserves proper respect. " Jon could only laugh, even as one of the biggest, muscular women he had ever seen took up a flanking position on his right side.
"Cheeky girl you have there Bor-El." Grissom said smiling, it was good to meet people who didn't worship the ground he walked upon, of course that didn't prevent him from teasing them a little. Something the energetic blonde teenage seemed to welcome as a challenge.
An irked Zor didn't bother turning to the human who had purposely mispronounced his name while he stared at Kara with new found pride. "That's Zor-El, Admiral. And she hasn't even gotten started."
The Krogan DMZ
Tuchanka
Given the war like nature of the demilitarized krogan, Faora wasn't all that surprised by the greeting they received the moment their ship broke atmo. "Unknown craft, state your intentions or we will blast you out of the sky." A guttural voice demanded over the comms.
Zod raised an eyebrow at the blatant threat. "This is General Zod, a representative of New Krypton, we have important business with your leadership." Zod said in a commanding tone befitting someone of his rank.
Silence covered the comms before the gruff voice returned, "Fine. Keep on your approach, but try anything, and we'll blast you out of the sky."
"Charming people. They do seem a bit preoccupied with blasting us out of the sky though." Zod sarcastically noted as the scout ship slowly made its way to the home planet of the krogan. He looked out the front window and back down at the datapad, which contained all the information on the red planet they were approaching. Jor, as always, had been obsessively thorough. "Tuchanka. An interesting place. Bombardment craters, radioactive rubble, choking ash, salt flats, alkaline seas. I'm surprised this planet can support life."
Faora nodded slightly in reply, never taking her eyes off the controls as she piloted the ship, viewing the magnificent desolation before them for herself. "The krogans respect strength above all things, no doubt due to their excessively harsh environment, mostly due to war with the turians and between themselves. "They also have a warrior culture rivaling our own military. They are supposedly honorable beings, with different clans that are proficient in various aspects of society, much like our own Houses. That said, I personally would not trust one of these brutish creatures as far as I could throw them."
"Patience Commander, they may surprise you." Zod replied calmly, he was about to say more, but in that moment they were contacted once again.
"You the ones that stomped those Spectres?" The gruff voice asked.
"I have one of them present with me, but we are of the same race, yes."
Zod and Faora could hear rough, throaty laughter on the other end, "In that case, welcome! The clan leader wants to meet you!" There was a pause as they heard two voices arguing in the background before the same gruff voice returned. "Hey, you, spectre smasher, settle a bet for me would you? Did you really break off a turian spectre's arm and beat him with it?"
"Yes." Faora replied simply, hearing disappointed groans and laughter from the speaker, seeing no point in rehashing the story.
The ship soon landed outside the remains of a large building. The harsh winds on the planet surface brought with it dust and debris, making it hard to see further than fifty yards out in front. Zod was initially upset about the lack of visibility, as it prevented them from spotting possible ambushes. As if to prove his suspicions valid, the moment he and Faora stepped off of the ship, there was a thunderous explosion right in front of them. Its concussive force pushed them back several feet, which was immediately followed by a biotic Warp that further pushed Zod back. When the dust cleared, the General looked down at his dented armor and merely dusted himself off and walked forward, even when the boom of a shotgun followed, which only slowed him down for a moment. He had long since spotted the shooter, and held Faora back with a hand when she went to charge the attacker down, dagger in hand.
"Mercenary or assassin?" Zod asked, knowing that the shooter had to be one or the other to fire on a diplomatic party despite being invited to the surface.
"Mercenary." The red scaled krogan replied, and lifted a grenade launcher, he fired twice, and while both grenades hit his two targets, the explosions didn't seem to cause any notable damage whatsoever. "Or at least was since I get the impression that I'm not getting out of this job alive." He held the general's gaze, and sighed in annoyance. "If you're going to kill me, get it over with. A clean death would be great, but, your choice I suppose." The massive, battle scarred krogan rumbled, nodding his head in respect to the pair. "Shadow Broker should have paid me double for data gathering against you folks. Didn't think you'd barely slow down after I hit you with my best attacks."
"And yet you don't run, even when you realize that you're clearly outmatched. That kind of bravery is rarely seen in any race." Zod stated as he looked to Faora for a moment before turning his gaze back on the krogan. "What's your name, mercenary?"
"So you can carve it on my tombstone?" The Krogan rumbled and looked at them without any sign of fear.
"So I can greet you like a soldier. Then carve it on your tombstone, if you wish." Zod replied honestly although he couldn't suppress a small smile at the last part.
"Heh heh heh." The krogan gave what Zod assumed was a chuckle. "Name's Urdnot Wrex. And you?"
"General Dru-Zod. My second is Sub-Commander Faora-Ul. Well met Urdnot Wrex." When Zod held out his hand, he was not surprised when the krogan didn't shake it, "I don't plan to kill you. That would be a waste of a valuable asset and a commendable soldier."
"You're definitely a stranger to this galaxy if you see a krogan as valuable, outside cleaning out rachni nests or hunting down a decent bounty that is. As for the rest of my species, don't bother trying to play peacekeeper, kryptonian. You'd be better off bending an asari over. On second thought, I hear you smacked one pretty good on the Citadel."
Zod and Faora knew he was referring to the Spectres that had tried to stop their flight from the center of Citadel Space. Faora was the first to notice the despondent look in the old krogan's red eyes however. "You don't hold hope for your race?" Faora asked, finding it strange that they were alike, in that sense at least. Or rather, that had been true for her until Jor and Zod led what was left of their people to this galaxy.
"I'm too old and jaded to care these days." Wrex grumbled low in his throat, having seen the thoughtful look on Faora's face.
Zod stared at Wrex, the ancient warrior's dark red armor glinting in the unforgiving sun, and pondered for a moment. "I wonder, are you to old and jaded to accept a generous offer? Your life, and proper payment, for your services as a guide and advisor. Life among the clans is a mystery to us, so any help you could provide would be well rewarded."
"Sounds better than any deal I've gotten recently. I get to live, send what I got from our little one sided skirmish, and get paid to play babysitter. I like it." Wrex said with a grin, which only made him look more intimidating.
"You will give any data you planned to send to your mysterious employer to me. Then you will tell me who this imbecile is and where I may find them." The General clarified cooly, he had no intention of revealing anything about his people too a stranger.
"Wouldn't surprise me if the Shadow Broker was hired by the Council, so giving them a giant screw you works just as well." Wrex said with a shrug as he handed over a copy of the data he had gathered on his omni-tool before deleting the original. "I don't know who the Broker is or where he is, no one does. He works through agents, no one meets him in person, but everyone's able to contact him if they have enough credits."
"Maybe we can set up a… meeting, if you gather my meaning? Get him to contact us?" Faora suggested, a plan already forming in her mind.
"One thing at a time Commander." Zod replied as he took the data drive from Wrex before putting it into a pocket of his armor. Faora only nodded her head in deference, and said no more on the subject for the moment.
"Just arrived and already planning to kill the Shadow Broker huh? I like your style Zod." Wrex said with a savage grin.
"You will address him as-" Zod held up a hand, silencing Faora's command midstance, while ignoring her surprised frown.
"It's quite alright Sub-Commander. Wrex is not kryptonian, so I can forgive any lack of decorum. Besides, he stood his ground against us and didn't back down, that alone deserves our respect." Zod said to his second in command in an effort to calm her down, although the old Krogan certainly didn't help matters.
"Guess he told you whelp." The icy glare in Faora's blue eyes only intensified at Wrex's deep chuckle.
Zod had to once again restain Faora from attacking the massive krogan, merely giving her a slight shake of his head this time. "Don't judge this 'whelp' too harshly Wrex. There is no one I would rather have at my side in battle."
"So, a battlemaster and his second. Seems fitting from what I've heard about you folks." Wrex said with a nod as he led them deeper into the ruins of what had once been one of their ancient cities. "I assume you don't know what a battlemaster is."
"For now, I'll assume it means a warrior without equal, one that has led men into battle countless times and come out the other side unharmed. A master of battle, if you will." Zod muttered with the barest hint of smirk as he cautiously took any every minute detail of their surroundings.
"You're half right. Battlemasters are respected clan leaders as well. They talk with the voice of their clan, unless they actually have a speaker. In which case, I'd steer clear since a leader who doesn't settle his own business isn't fit for the job." The vehement tone in Wrex's voice wasn't missed by either kryptonian as he led them through a narrow stone corridor and out into what Zod could only assume was some kind of market square.
"Lead by example or don't lead at all." Faora stated as she sidestepped a krogan that had just been punched in the face by another of his companions. "Wise advice, wouldn't you say General?"
"Indeed. A lesson our own council could have learned to follow, if they had had the wisdom they claimed to possess."
Two krogan thugs blocking their path seemed to be having a head butting contest. Wrex laughed at the sign of aggression while Zod and Faora stared in confusion. "It's a sign of strength," Wrex explained, "First one to fall loses, but it's considered honorable to admit defeat when you regain consciousness."
"I could probably take both of these... whelps, with little trouble." Faroa boasted. The two that were locked in their contest stopped in mid swing, and turned to glare at her, as if she had grown a second head.
"A human female thinks to challenge a krogan?!" One of them laughed so hard that he was bent at the waist while his companion just shook his head at the fool that thought she was their equal.
The one on the right side sniffed and growled softly. "She smells strange for a human. Like gun oil and death. This might not be such a go-" He never got a chance to finish his sentence as Faora slammed her head against him so hard that there was an audible crack as the young krogan crumpled to the dirt. His companion didn't get a chance to be surprised before he joined him, flat on his back a moment later.
Wrex gave a booming laugh before he slapped her hard on the back, "I take it back whelp. You got a quad, for a female, Sub-Commander."
Faora gave the mercenary a razor thin smirk and nodded her head ever so slightly. "They'll live."
"Hope so. Maybe they'll learn some humility." One of the braver krogan near them muttered a less than courteous opinion of Faora under his breath as Wrex sighed, shaking his huge armored crest. "Or not." Wrex made it a point to stomp over to the krogan, pull his shotgun in a flash, and unloaded an entire clip into his face. "Any other takers?!"
"Enough Wrex!" Another krogan shouted, as small retinue of guards pushed their way through the gathering crowd. "Why have you brought these weakling outsiders into our midst?!"
"Glad you could get off of your mate for more than five minutes, brother." Wrex rumbled as he turned to the leader of the group that had come down to meet them. "Only six? I'm touched you thought you could get away from me with so few Wreav."
"Coming from the spineless pyjak that killed our father and ran away, those are big words Wrex."
"He dishonored our dead and our clan by using our burial grounds as an ambush site!"
Zod was quick to step in before the two brothers could come to blows right there in the market square. "To me, it sounds as if your father was the coward, not your brother. Let me guess. You met with him under a flag of truce, which was then discarded."
Wrex nodded before his beady red glare again seared into his brother. "A krantt. I wanted to take our people out of the mud. Our father and my spineless brother wanted to hold onto the ideals that have doomed us since the beginning."
"They make us great! You would have us discard the very thing that sets us apart from the other races!"
"We're a race of petty mercenaries, bodyguards, and thugs Wreav. We're great alright, living in the ruins of our ancient homes, sterilized to the point of near extinction, and for what?! A few credits and an early death on a dying world?!"
Sighing, Zod stepped forward in an attempt to calm the rapidly deteriorating situation. I have officially spent far too much time around Jor. "Gentlemen, surely this argument can be solved without the use of-" His words were interrupted with the grunting between the two groups as they came close to blows. "Gentlemen!" Zod's voice boomed above them, silencing the whole plaza as he idly tapped a finger against his holstered sidearm. When he was sure he had their attention, Zod nodded his head. "Thank you. Now, we have come a long way, and I do not plan to leave until we have also come to an understanding, one way, or the other."
"Fine, but I still say you'd be better off screwing an asari matriarch than trying to talk sense to this pyjak." Wrex growled as he pushed his brother away before taking a spot next to the general and the woman at his side.
"Hollow words from a hypocrite and a traitor to his own race." Wreav grumbled as he walked away, his guards falling in behind him without a word. "You'll know where to find me when you're ready to die Wrex!" He shouted over his shoulder.
Wrex looked to Zod and Faora with a casual shrug. "And now you know why I gave up on my people."
"Indeed. Luckily I am long used to dealing with rulers far more idiotic and stubborn than any of your people Wrex. My own. They no longer live to bother me."
"Really? You kill them yourself?"
"The destruction of our homeworld saw to that for us." Faora coldly informed the battlescarred old krogan.
"The only way you'll gain control of the clans is if you kill Wreav. And the only way I can even begin to think about it is if I get the shaman's blessing. Don't ask why, it'll take too long to go into the details, and that's assuming I even want to try. You're strong Zod, but you haven't given me a reason to care."
"Then let me give you a reason Wrex. You're more open minded than Wreav by far. You're wiser, willing to listen to reason, and you're not a coward who needs blind obedience from those who serve him, unlike your brother. I recognize the type, having trained many men and served with far more than I could ever remember." Zod reached into his armor and retrieved a small datapad. "That is why I keep the names of those who have fallen by my side, or under my command, on this."
"Are you going to get to the point?"
"I keep it to honor them, to remember their deeds in life, and also as a promise to the rest that follow me that I will do all I can to keep their unwavering respect and loyalty. That promise is made to good men and women like yourself Wrex. So my offer is this, as well as the reason you desire. What if I told you an old friend of mine was working on a viable cure for the genophage?"
Wrex looked at the kryptonian with renewed interest, even if he didn't quite believe it. "I'm listening."
"General. A moment?" A short time later, Faora led Zod to an abandon corridor, doing her best not to openingly glare up at her commanding officer. "To my knowledge, General, Jor-El has done no such medical research."
He had expected the cold, unbelieving tone in his Sub-Commander's voice, and only nodded his head before replying to her in a calm, even tone. "Faora. If you knew Jor-El half as well as I do, you'd know that he has used these last few months wisely. What has been done to the krogan is a grave injustice. More barbaric than even what our tenuous new allies have suffered. And you full well know he's currently working on a permanent immuno booster for them as well. Trust me, Jor would have devoted time and energy to the endeavor, to undo another crime perpetrated by the Council races. He would not be Jor-El if he didn't." After a moment of thought, Zod was quick to add in a second comment to his little speech. "That reminds me, there's still the matter of the bomb the turians planted here. We'll have to see about removing it before the Hierarchy decides to detonate. That should gain us favor with the natives."
"Why do I get the feeling this is going to end about as well as the attack on the Black Zero headquarters?" Faora questioned critically. While she had faith in the General's and her own abilities, this situation provided far too many more unknowns than she was comfortable with.
"Have a little faith Sub-Commander." Zod responded calmly, after all this was far from the worst situation they had been in.
"General, may I just say how displeased I am that you seem to keep vital operational details from me with alarming frequency. I would request that you reconsider." The Sub-Commander sternly pleaded with her superior, at least as close as Faora could get to pleading.
"You may, but your request is denied." Before she could protest, Zod put a hand on her shoulder and made sure their gazes locked. "But I only do so because I must, Sub-Commander, not because I don't trust you. I spoke truly when I said there was no one else I'd rather fight beside. I trust you, without question Faora."
"You are merely overly cautious." She stated rather than asked, and let the matter drop when Zod nodded his head again. She trusted him, respected him above all others, but she didn't bow to him like so many others. She questioned him when she felt she had to, and he respected her candor, her willingness to follow her heart wherever it led, even if that meant they had a difference of opinion from time to time.
So it came as no surprise that she found herself standing next to Wrex once more, and stood silent as Zod talked about future plans with the krogan mercenary. While he was reluctant to take a leadership position, Zod's promise to provide a cure for his people had shifted his loyalties already.
"However, before we discuss such things further we have a bomb to take care of. We will need someone who is familiar with the territory." Zod admitted, and eyed the red clad krogan speculatively.
"A bomb huh? Sounds fun. Heh heh heh, then what are we waiting for?"
End Notes; Nomad-117: And that was chapter seven of our little story, I hope you enjoyed it as much as the last ones. Other than that I can only say keep those reviews coming, they are what keeps us going. The more the merrier. It might even encourage us to get another update out all the faster, you never know...
Archer83: Nomad... I have taught you well, my apprentice.
Nomad-117: Thank you, master.
Vergil1989; You guys need help lol. In all seriousness, I hope you've enjoyed the latest chapter and that we'll see you again, next time, on Daughter of El!
