Earth, Toronto, March 14th 2186 CE
As the last mover pushed a maglev platform out the front door of the apartment Max aimlessly wandered the now barren abode. He had thought he wouldn't become attached to such a big sterile space but there was a certain comfort in its openness. He wasn't looking forward to the severe austere living conditions he had been briefed on that were awaiting him at the CTC base.
His belongings were being put in storage while he was away. In fact the only personal belongings he could bring were what he could carry essentially. His uniforms and most of his gear were to be shipped in a secured container ahead of him while he made the roundabout trip to Digeris.
Max had kept his application to the Coalition Training Center quiet, hoping to make a clean break and start anew. Alarees had talked to him more often but only ventured into his personal life once over an awkward lunch. Overall not much had happened between the two during the month or so that had passed. She would occasionally stop by personally to relay messages to him as opposed to her usual succinct e-mails. She was a regular at the gym now whenever he went after work. During one session curiosity had gotten the better of him and he had approached her while she was going to town on a punching bag.
"Need a partner?" He had asked cautiously. She had paused mid strike and turned to face him already heaving with effort.
"You can hold the bag if you wish" She said tepidly.
"I thought I was the bag." Max said flashing a brash smile. She had dropped her stance and regarded him with that impenetrable reticence. Eventually she brought her gloved fists back up and took a step towards him.
"When you're right you're right" She said and jabbed at his sternum. Max wasn't ready and got the full effect of the punch, winding him. He nearly doubled over but hunched forward bringing his hands up to his cheeks and stepping out from her reach.
"Wouldn't you like gloves for this?" she said while circling Max.
"Nah, I don't hit women" He wheezed still winded.
"This doesn't mean I will go easy on you."
"As if a handicap has stopped you in the past."
"Suicidal inclinations are not a handicap, just selfish wallowing." She darted at an oblique angle and landed two hits on his ribs. Max caught her trailing arm as she pulled back from the salvo under his elbow and turned away from it, locking her arm out. He continued with the motion, drawing a C on the matting with his foot as he pivoted with her in tow. He went to bring her down but released her before the shepherds staff motion ended up with her pinned under him and all his weight on her shoulder. The sudden surge of momentum had her arms pin wheeling as she was released and tried to stop her forward movement.
"I had no intention of dying, as you can tell by my present state." He said to the flailing Cabalist. She managed to keep from face planting and turned back toward him. She probed him a few times which Max batted away, keeping his distance.
"So is this type of behavior typical of grieving humans?" She said while jabbing at his ribs again. He moved to block and grab her again but she was ready this time. She dropped and swept his legs from under him. He thudded heavily onto the mat and immediately threw up a guard but no mount came. Instead a clawed foot came arcing down towards his head. He rolled away and managed to get to his knees before she was on him again. With his mobility and height advantage gone she landed a few choice hits to his head. Max dove into her tucking his chin and grabbing the side of her head with one massive hand to keep her from head butting. She countered with a badly timed elbow which crossed her arm across her body.
Bad move. He thought smugly and went to put her in an arm choke. Her bony carapace locked together around her shoulder and chest plates keeping him from bringing her arm up next to her head to seal the deal. A weak jab came from her other hand and he slackened his grip to secure it. He felt something hook his leg and pull outwards. He countered by bringing his knees up in a side mount.
Her legs shot up and around his neck the second his weight was off her, each spur scissoring around his throat. He moved to stand but her entire weight was now acting like the handles of a pair of bolt-cutters. All she had to do was bring her knees together to increase pressure on his throat. Standing only made the action involuntary for her to control so he ducked back down to be greeted by gloved fists dancing unopposed on his face.
Left with little other choice he brought his arms up and in between her legs and shoved his head towards her crotch to get out from the spurs. He opened her legs and grabbed on to one as he tried to spin around to put her in a leg bar. She tried to roll on to her stomach to get out of it but he used her momentum against her to scissor her leg in his and get her in a leg lock. She swatted at him with her other leg but couldn't hit him.
"No" He said panting. "Is stalking people a usual behavior for your people?"
"I wasn't stalking you" She snarled and tried to curl up to take away his leverage.
"Then what were you doing up there? You never answered me that."
She managed to hook her other spur under his knee and was applying pressure as she curled up and twisted. He relented and rolled out of her and regained his footing. She stood and they began circling one another again. Her brown underskin glistened with sweat as those blue eyes searched out a weakness. Max couldn't help but notice that when they were rolling around on the mat she had a vaguely familiar scent about her.
Is she using my soap now?
His moment of inattentiveness cost him as she hooked gloved hands behind his head and brought a knee at what Max assumed to be near superluminal velocity into his gut just missing his diaphragm. He bowed forwarded and encircled her narrow waist with his hands. The plating wasn't as thick right above the Turians pelvis so Max could actually feel mostly supple skin through her thin microfiber top. Her legs seemed to spasm and her eyes went wide as he lifted her off the ground and tossed her in the air like a parent does with a small child. He caught her as she came back down and his cackling was rewarded with an elbow to the side of the head.
"You play around too much" She said shakily as she jumped back out of his grasp.
"Oh now it's too much. Jeez just last week Jeratul was bemoaning my lack of extracurricular activities to my boss. And you are dodging the question yet again."
She dropped her guard and took a few shuddering breaths as her knees shook.
I didn't fuck her up that bad did I? Max thought mildly alarmed.
She leaned forward and braced her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.
"Hey, are you ok?"
Her jet black head shot up and her mandibles flared angrily.
"I pray that what you did was not intentional. For your sake. And I was trying to do something different for once." She had said shakily then stormed out of the gym leaving a very confused Max.
Do something different. Like what, murder me? Maybe she was on her way to apologize for the shenanigans in San Diego. Heh, yea. Right.
Max grabbed his duffel bag and backpack by the door and looked the place over one last time before slowly closing the door and locking it. He tossed his bags on the passenger seat of a waiting aircar and set off for the Embassy one last time to pick up his orders and bid everyone goodbye.
He arrived and strode purposefully up to Van behind the reception desk who looked up from his terminal glacially.
"So I guess this is goodbye." He preempted.
"Uh, yea." Max said guiltily.
"You know, I've known about you leaving us for a while now. I thought I knew you better though, never expected you to go this whole time without saying anything. I've just one question, why?"
Max lowered his gaze, ashamed.
"I've come to the realization that this place lets me dwell too much on the past. I didn't mean any offence; I just feel I need to move on."
Van crossed his arms and cocked his hips to the side, his chin set low.
"What an interesting technique." He said condescendingly. "So was it really this place or one person in particular?"
"Yes." Max said, meeting his gaze.
"Hmm. Well you might get the change of pace you wanted out there. But things have a way of getting its ass bitten. Well good luck to you then. Maybe drop me a line and tell me how you like the accommodations."
There was something about the way Van said it that set off alarm bells the back of Max's mind. He knew Van was the type to hold grudges, as evidenced by his antagonistic attitude towards Braxton the first week after Alarees had showed up at the bar that fateful night. As far as Max knew she hadn't breathed a word to anyone about what had transpired.
Max simply nodded awkwardly and left Van standing there. He knocked on LtCmdr. Mattis' door and was beckoned inside. Max left his bags outside his office and stepped in to see the gray haired man standing by the window staring out at the steel and concrete jungle below.
"It's not too late to call this thing off Gunny." He said to the window. "Really, I just don't want to lose the best Operations Chief I've ever had."
Max stood at attention and reported:
"Sir, Gunnery Chief Barrett requests permission to be relieved of present duties and execute orders."
"Stand at ease Max. I'm serious on both counts though. It's going to be a month before your replacement arrives."
"Sir, I am willing and determined to represent the Alliance and show them how things are done." Max replied.
"Very well Gunnery chief, permission granted." The . Turned and faced him regarding him over his thin glasses with those narrow eyes. "And please take care of yourself out there Max, there's nothing worth dying over at a training base."
"Yes Sir, Aye Aye Sir." Max about faced and exited his office smartly. He had only one last thing to do before he left. He entered his office and pocketed his Felix the Cat figurine. Tucking his race track plaque under his arm he took down his vintage clock and made his way to Braxtons office. He was thankfully absent so Max left the clock on a shelving unit behind his desk. He penned a small note and left it on his desk:
Mr. Tull,
I hope you get more use out of this than I did. I picked this up from a small colony we liberated from Batarian slavers. It was a gift from a mother of three that we had returned her children to. There's a neat trick it does of you set the time to 1630 and pull the counterweight.
Regards.
Max
He slipped out of the office and went to Alarees'. He hesitated at the door rehearsing what he had to say when an old flanging voice sounded off behind him.
"She's not here; I believe she's out on an errand." Jeratul said with a tinge of amusement.
"Oh, ok then, I'm just going to drop something off on her desk." Max replied turning to see the elder Turian ambling up to him. It seemed he grew older day by day. He could see cracks in his facial plates and his colony markings had lost their sharp edges. Jeratul took Max's hand in both of his, holding it to his chest.
"I doubt she will find room for it, but she will appreciate the gesture none the less. Good luck out there Gunny, and don't let them youngsters get too rambunctious."
"Yes Sir. And it's been a pleasure serving with you."
Jeratul squeezed his hand and ambled off. Max stared after the shuffling figure for a while and eventually turned back to the task at hand. He entered her office and noticed how spartan it was, alarm bells started ringing again at Jeratul's comment. He placed the plaque next to a holo-image of a group of female Turians. Max could pick Alarees out of the assortment of mostly brown and gray Turians. There was one beside Alarees that was a light green, her amber eyes seemed to glow with certain warmth.
Max penned a note and stuck it to the plaque
Though "It was an accident" I would like to thank you for opening my eyes. I think maybe I can move on from the past.
-Max
Max left the Embassy and set off for the shuttle port. Upon landing he checked in to the Alliance armory and received his armor and supplemental gear. His Exo frame would be packed along with the different armatures and attachments in his gear crate. He took off his Omnitool bracelet and clicked it into his armors' vambrace section. The vambrace beeped signaling that the Omnitool had integrated with his armors systems. He pushed a small cart with the rest of his heavy armor to the don and clear bay where multi-jointed robotic arms would incase him in the rest of it. He stripped down naked and put on his neural interface suit which was a skin tight smart fabric that also acted as insulation. As he stood on a small raised platform and the arms went about sealing him in his armor he went through a mental checklist of his itinerary one last time to distract himself from the fun part.
Shuttle to SSV Warsaw leaves in 2 hours. Arrive and ride out its patrol to the Citadel two days later. Shuttle to the Citadel, check in at transient dormitories on Tayseri Ward.
"Prepare for dual catheter insertion." A robotic female voice chimed.
"OWW FUUhhh-UUUCK"
Ok ok, focus -Leave 2 days later on shuttle to the Turian Dreadnought Indomitable. Ride back with them to the Trebia system and transfer to the PFS Havinclaw. Fly to Castellus system and set down on Digeris. Report to Prefect Ferkan. All told five days of travel.
"Sequence complete, have a nice day"
"You violate me and won't even take me out for dinner, what a bitch." He said bitterly to the VI which responded by opening the door.
"You could at least give me some credits for the taxi ride home."
"Unrecognized command or enquiry"
"Figured as much"
Max stooped down and grabbed the synthetic diamond dome that was his helmet off the cart. Electing not to put it on until he embarked the shuttle he clipped it onto his back, grabbed his bag, and left the terminal. He spied his reflection on a tinted window pane overlooking the runways and landing pads below. The hulking frame of his dark green and brown camouflaged armor looked intimidating. As it should, the only thing more heavily armored than the new class of EXO-Heavy armor was a YMIR Mech or possibly a Atlas suit. Putting the armor on required external assistance as the occupant was effectively sealed inside of it. There were emergency releases for the individual to be able to get out of it by themselves though. A bare bones suit with no Exo or weapons weighed 200 pounds. Magnetic-Hydraulic actuators facilitated movement but only Alliance Marines who were capable of unassisted locomotion for a combined distance and time of 3 Miles on under 30 minutes could qualify to wear such armor.
Max remembered a poster of an Alliance Marine clad in Exo-Heavy armor lifting a Rachni over its head. He or she was flanked by others similarly clad braced in full battery position loosing recoilless rockets from dual three barreled shoulder armatures at an unseen foe. That image was the carrot that made him choose Heavy-Combat Engineer as his Occupational Specialty. There was just something arousing at having almost a frigates level of firepower in one "small" package.
They had not, however, told him that you had to live in your armor until you reached a don and clear station. This facilitated the need for waste catheters and, namely in places with un-breathable atmosphere, nutrient IVs. Also it wasn't until he graduated Academy that he figured out that Humans had never fought the Rachni directly.
Home sweet home until I get to the Citadel. He thought disparagingly
Max entered the armory and picked up his sidearm, a standard issue M-5 Phalanx, from a slender raven haired Corporal.
"Ooh, a Heavy. Where you off to Gunnery Chief" She cooed.
"Apien Crest." He said shifting around uncomfortably in his armor.
"Gonna go fuck up some Boneheads?" She said sweetly, batting eyelashes.
"Is there something wrong with your eyes?" He asked leaning in over the issue desk to get a better look at the young Service member.
"Uh, oh no Gunnery Chief." She said looking confused.
"Maybe it's an involuntary byproduct of your raging xenophobia."
"Uhh"
"Can the derogatory remarks. They're Turians. It's that simple. I've just met you and you strike me as highly unprofessional. Who's your Staff Non-commissioned officer in charge?"
She was at parade rest now wide eyed with fear.
"Service Chief Wilcox, Gunnery Chief."
"Oh really, Dave Wilcox?"
She nodded fearfully, her eyes almost bugging out of her skull.
"I know him from the SSV Agincourt. Well I know you will be well taken care of." Max said levelly.
"Aye Aye gunnery Chief."
"Dismissed"
"Aye Aye Gunnery Chief, Good Morning Gunnery Chief." She about faced and marched off into the weapons room.
She is shitting her pants right now. She'll be busting rust on deck plates for a week if I told Dave about this little outburs, the tough nosed sonofabitch. Max thought amusedly. He debated shooting the Service Chief the message, but thought the ass chewing was punishment enough. Often he found the threat of punishment was incentive enough to correct behavioral deficiencies.
Max entered the terminal proper and checked his bags at an automated station. He found his gate and plopped down on a bench which creaked alarmingly under his combined weight.
And now we wait, hooray.
He tried to watch an ANN broadcast on a wall mounted screen but the general din of the terminal was too loud to make out what the anchors were saying. He gave up and popped his helmet on and made his faceplate opaque. He keyed some commands onto his forearm and piped the broadcast on to his heads up display. He grew tired of the repeat news cycle of yesterday and shut it off after a few minutes. He un-tinted his reflective face plate to see that a few other armored humans had gathered on the benches opposite to him and were chatting amongst each other. He looked down the terminal and saw more approaching as well as a lone Turian clad in light armor. Whoever it was, he or she was short for a Turian. It's helmet was on and the T shaped face plate was tinted black which blended in with the black/gray camo pattern of its armor. Max was reminded of the ancient Sci-Fi horror movie Alien. It was a distinct pleasure that the Galaxy had not produced anything that terrifying naturally.
Speakers mounted in the high ceiling chimed and announced that boarding would commence shortly. Everyone stood and shuffled to the loading gate forming a rough line. Max managed to get in near the front, his armors cooling fans whirring quietly as he waited. He passively noticed that the tiny Turian had taken up a spot behind him.
As Max got closer to the shuttle he could feel his trepidation gradually melt into excitement. He was finally going back into space! He had always liked the steady hum of shipboard activity. The constant activity lent itself to the perception of continuous motion and progress. He didn't really mind the confined space which was a gimme given his trade. One thing he could do without was ship food.
They packed into the shuttle and the Tiny One sat down next to him. As they strapped in Max overheard some of the idle banter though his suits microphones.
"I HATE flying fully suited."
"You can thank the crazies screaming about robots from darkspace for it. It's policy now that all travel on military transports be conducted in basic combat issue gear."
"Who's the crazy, Shephard?"
"Thats Commander Shepard there Private" Max boomed through his suits speakers.
"Aye Aye Gunnery Chief" The shuttle chorused from the junior Alliance members present. Max reminisced briefly about his time as a junior service member and all the ass chewings and "games" he would play for even the most minor transgressions at the hands of his NCO's.
It really is true; you either leave the Alliance a hero, or see yourself become the villain. He thought smiling.
He felt eyes on him and turned in his suit to see the small Turian looking up at him. He or she must have sensed he was looking back at it because its head turned back quickly. A warning chime sounded and they launched, Max stared out the window as they accelerated into heavy cloud cover. The window became blurry with condensation as they pierced the mute gray sky. Suddenly they were through and they could see the sun, low in the sky, casting a gold blanket on the tops of clouds. As they left earth behind Max could feel the familiar lurch of artificial gravity kick in. Soon Earth was a white and blue orb with continents peeking out between vast swaths of cloud cover. The infinite darkness of space surrounded them as they made rendezvous with the SSV Warsaw.
They docked with the ship and disembarked, a yeoman escorting them to their squad bay. Max dropped his bags on the bottom bunk at the back of the squad bay. Most of the other passengers took up bunks towards the front giving Max a wide berth. The lone Turian entered the squad bay and looked around uncertainly, a single knapsack slung over its shoulder. Max exited the squad bay and followed his nose to the galley as the Turian started heading towards the back of the squad bay.
After standing in line for what felt like an eternity Max took his tray of what was optimistically called food and sat in a corner overlooking the mess hall. He had folded his helmet back and was getting reacquainted with eating in armor when a food tray clattered down onto the stainless steel table in front of him. He looked up to see the Yeoman who had escorted them earlier sitting down in front of him.
"Mind if I pop a squat an' jaw jack with ye a bit?"
"Oh sure Yeoman, I'm just a guest here. Your ship your rules." Max said around a mouthful of what was labeled mashed potatoes but had the consistency of papier-mâché.
"I wish it were my ship, I wouldn't have let the Toe Walker onboard."
"The Turian?"
"You got it. I don't trust 'em any farther than I can throw 'em. Which in this case might be pretty far. Tiny that one is."
Well it's good to know that xenophobia is alive and well at all levels. Max thought becoming vexed with how seemingly common it was.
"I guess so. I just came from the Turian embassy though, not bad people if you get to know them." Max eventually said.
"Eh, any species who shoots first an' asks questions later is a group to be watched closely for sure." The ruddy Yeoman growled.
"Whoever it is is probably just passing through to it's parent command or something."
"Yea, says as much on the manifest. Though she didn't ask for separate lodging, elected to rack in the uni squad bay."
She?
"Well from what I've seen nudity doesn't faze them. So I think she'll be ok."
They chatted while they ate. Max gradually warmed up to the Yeoman finding out that his family had a long history of military service, which included some loss at the hands of Turians during the Relay 314 incident. Max tried to give him some perspective on their new found allies which seemed to have some positive impact on him.
"I neva' quite thought abou' it like that Gunny. I'm Parks by the way, Callum Parks. -Oh the skipper has relaxed the Armor policy on this ship ye can clear your suit in the squad bay on a wall rack, it becomes mandatory to don if we go to code yellow or higher." He said while eyeing Max's massive frame. "Well I must be going. Got'a shift startin in about a' hour."
They shook hands and went their separate ways. Max placed his tray on a cart and clunked his way down long steel corridors to the squad bay. Most of the others he had arrived with had left to venture about the ship. The private he had corrected earlier was at the front of the squad bay laying on his rack reading from a datapad.
Max approached his rack and noticed the Turian occupying the top bunk, its back to him coiled up. Max looked around and saw several other bunk beds that were unclaimed that would give it some space.
How interesting.
"Uh. Hey Sir or Ma'am, just so you know we can take off our armor. If we go into an alert status then we have to put it back on."
No reply, must be sleeping.
Max went around the bunk and backed into an alcove which began removing his armor. He breathed a sigh of relief as his internal umbilical's were retracted from him. He stepped out of the alcove and stretched in his skin tight interface suit. The steel decking was frigid so he padded back over to his bunk to retrieve his uniform quickly. As he reached for his bag he noticed a small transparent square resting on his pillow. He picked it up and read the embossed inscription in shock.
Maximillian Barrett
21:33
Chuckwalla Valley Raceway
He heard rustling and looked up to see the Turian rolling over to face him. She popped off her helmet and hung it on the corner post.
"Van and Jeratul sends their regards." Alarees purred while scratching behind her jet black fringe.
