SSV Warsaw, March 14th 2186 CE
Well no teeth or flared mandibles, so no outward appearance of anger or hostility. Max thought to himself. He had also noted she didn't have any weapons on her. She stared at him intently as he unconsciously touched the fading scar above his eye.
"What are you doing here Jorst?" Max said incredulously
"Making sure there's nothing for you to jump off of" She replied gravely.
Is she being fucking serious right now
Something in her demeanor changed as her words sunk in and Max scowled, she quickly added "Ok so maybe not the best joke. But really I am going to Digeris to oversee my Biotics program. You?"
"Uh, same destination, different mission." Max said distractedly as a few bits of information fell into place.
Van, you motherfucker. Goddamnit Jeratul was in on this to.
"So unless you are in on this as well I feel like we've been tricked" Max said indignantly.
"I had my suspicions, but Jeratul is a tried and true stone faced politician. And Van is far more capable of deception than I give him credit for." Alarees said amusedly.
Max looked down at the plaque still cradled in his hands, shame hitting him like a freight train.
"Oh, so. What did you make of this?"
Now it was Alarees turn to be uncomfortable. She fidgeted in her armor and scratched behind her fringe again.
"I. Umm. Thank you?" There was a heavy pause as they both thought of what to do next. Max gradually became overwhelmed with a feeling of culpability. It was as if this whole fiasco were his doing, so he started talking:
"Well.. So I guess we'll be working together then. -I mean not like we haven't before. But it will be more direct. Do you know who you'll be reporting to? I hear they have limited space and most of the staff are doubled up in trailers. Oh damn I'm rambling. I'll stop. Do you need anything? I've been on a ship like this before I can show you around. I'm talking still. Sorry"
Max looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. Alarees couldn't suppress her laughter any longer and warbled away while Max looked on stunned.
"Remember Max, lets take this day by day." She tutted. He nodded numbly, panic subsiding gradually as he touched his forehead again.
"Nice pajamas by the way" she said impishly, remarking his Neural interface suit.
Doesn't really leave much to the imagination. She thought to herself
He looked down at himself and smiled sheepishly.
"Uh yea, this is how I usually greet future co workers" he said abashedly while turning to his side to preserve some of his modesty.
Is he squaring up to fight or is that some kind of social thing? Alarees thought curiously. She decided to research human behavior later that night on the extranet.
"Well I seemed to have missed the greeting the first time around." She said playfully. She watched in fascination as he turned red.
Why is she being so. Nice? Is this a set up to get me complacent for something she has in mind?
"So I'm going to go ahead and finish changing, you're more than welcome to watch" He said before realizing there was a chance she would probably take him literally.
"I've seen people put clothes on before. I think i'll go hit up the gym and get something to eat." She said dismissively.
This is like the most we've talked since my apartment, it's like I exist now.
"Ok then, I'll move my stuff so you can have the bottom rack if you like, there's plenty of space in here." Max said timidly.
"I like the current arrangements if you are ok with it." She said quietly. She was doing that head tilt thing, her mandibles twitching slightly.
"Uh sure, just don't say I didn't warn you about my snoring, Aubry used to-" Max coughed suddenly and had to look away from those sparkling blue eyes.
"I can be obnoxious when I sleep." He said quietly.
She nodded and began removing her armor. Max stood and watched for a minute before growing self conscious and grabbing his clothes. With his catheters removed he had the urge to do his business naturally. So he exited the squad bay covering his modesty with his uniform and went into the restroom across the hall. Max had just settled down in a stall when he heard the shuffle of boots as two people entered the restroom. Max froze at the sound. He had always felt uncomfortable doing his business in public restrooms and doubly so when someone else entered. He tried waiting them out, but they started talking at the sink.
"Did you see the Skull fucker?" One of them said, his voice raspy.
"Hard to miss, did you notice it take a shine to the Heavy on the shuttle?" Said the other in a nasal voice.
"You mean the uptight asshole? Figures it would favor another asshole"
"I think I saw it heading below decks, unescorted by the way."
"They should collar aliens with tracking devices when on our ships." Said the raspy one.
"Wanna go see what it's up to?" The nasally one said.
"Heh, yea. Maybe we'll catch it doing something shady and get it launched from an airlock."
They finished and left. Max hurriedly finished his business and got dressed. He jogged to his bunk and tossed the interface suit on it. As he turned to leave he stopped to grab his omnitool bracelet from his armor and slipped it on. He brought up the ships blueprints to confirm where the gym was as he hurriedly entered the elevator.
As he exited the elevator and approached the gym he slowed his pace so as to not draw attention to himself. A group of technicians passed by while Max pretended to be engrossed in a technical manual on his Omnitools reader function. He waited by the door for a good 15 minutes but no one entered or left. Anxiety got the better of him and he tripped the door sensor and peeked in. The gray matting was barren of people as were the wall mounted machines. The place had a sour stink of sweat.
A lone punching bag by a support pillar swayed slightly making Max's brow furrow. He stealthily entered and looked around. The room was a rectangle with a curved ceiling that terminated into the curved portside wall. According to the schematics the gym was against the secondary pressure hull of the ship. Just a meter or so beyond the curved wall was hard vacuum. The opposite wall had partitions interspersed between equipment and the farthest ones led to a changing room and shower. As Max ventured deeper into the room he noticed gouges in the matting leading away from the punching bag. He followed the gouges to the shower room and pressed against a wall. He could hear motion and a gagging cough. It sounded human. He peeked into the shower, his adrenaline pumping.
There on the tiled floor of the shower room Alarees had a young privates' head wedged between her legs. The humans face was a deep purple and his eyes were rolling back into his head as he weakly clawed at her.
Her ebony face was split into a toothy grimace as she sucked in air from her exertions and fought off the Privates meager attempts to stave off unconsciousness. The Private managed to hook a hand into the fabric of her thin microfiber top and wrenched, tearing the garment in half. Alarees responded by striking the private on the side of the head with an open palm while she grabbed the offending limb with her other hand.
Max stepped out from behind the wall and Alarees looked up at the motion.
"-Theres *gasp* another" she managed to breath. Max heard a scuffle of boots on the matting and turned in time to see another Alliance soldier gliding towards him with a metal rod held high over his head. The young soldiers eyes widened and the rod began to arc down towards Max's head. He dove into the swing his forearms meeting the young soldiers' thereby arresting the arcing motion mid swing.
He looked over his shoulder and saw Aubry being dragged towards a Dragons' tooth by a group of Husks to be impaled.
Violence.
A switch flipped and Max pinched his shoulder with his other hand and smashed through the soldiers face with a lateral elbow. The rod thumped on to the matting and the soldier staggered. As his hands moved to a profusely bleeding nose Max wrapped his meaty vice grips around his throat and lifted him off the ground. The soldier kicked at his groin but Max took a step forward blocking the shot. Enraged he took one hand off the soldier's throat and grabbed him by the belt buckle and lifted him over his head.
"IM HERE ASSHOLES, TRY AND TAKE HER NOW. " He roared as he threw the soldier into a wall. There was a sickening crunch as he crumpled like a meat filled accordion. Completely blacked out he turned from the still form and stormed the group of Husks around Aubry. He grabbed one that was partially conscious by the legs and pulled him away from Alarees. She released him and let his head bobble about as he was dragged by Max towards the matting.
"Max, he's done." She wheezed.
Max straddled him and pinned his arms by his side. The privates head lolled about as he gradually came to and went wide eyed when he looked up to see Max foaming at the mouth screaming into his soul.
"WHY, WHY YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT. NOT SO FUCKING TOUGH NOW ARE YOU" Max swatted him across the face with a backhand.
"GIVE HER BACK YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT "
"Max please, he's done" Alarees said from someplace in the distant. Max cocked back to hit the private again but felt something grab his arm. He turned angrily and saw Ree recoil from his stare. The sound of rushing blood abated and his vision returned to normal as he saw the fear in her eyes. He looked down to see the private sobbing; one whole side of his face was beet red.
Icy calm and logic returned as Max looked down at himself. He jumped up off the private and brought his omnitool up and approached the wall kisser. A scan revealed a broken collarbone and a fractured spinal column among other injuries.
"This is Gunnery Chief Barrett, I need a medical team in the gym ASAP with a spinal stabilization board." He commed to the CIC.
"What the hell happened down there?" The Duty officer enquired. "Report to the bridge when the team arrives." He continued.
"Aye aye Sir" Max replied robotically and turned to Alarees who was surveying the carnage around her.
"I presume he means both of us." He said levelly.
She nodded numbly and tried to pull what was left of her top back over her shoulders. She inhaled deeply and tore the rest of it off in anger her bare chest plates shining under the harsh fluorescent lighting.
"That was my only one." She said disdainfully, regarding the pile of cloth on the gray matting.
As Max and Alarees stood by the Captains office Max couldn't help but smile faintly as Alarees fidgeted in the t-shirt he had given her. It was comically oversized, making her look like she was wearing a sheet with arm holes. The hatch to the Captains' office opened and they were ushered inside by the ruddy faced Yeoman. The Captain sat at her desk with her back to them. Max strode up to the desk with Alarees in tow, went to Attention, and reported in.
"Ma'am, Gunnery Chief Barrett reporting as ordered."
"Stand At Ease, Gunnery Chief." She said calmly turning in her seat to face them. She was of typical age of someone her rank. Worry lines were beginning to take root around sharp brown eyes. There were streaks of gray in her otherwise auburn hair. Her nose was slightly hooked which accentuated high cheekbones. She regarded the duo for a moment before turning to a wall mounted holo and turning it on.
"Now before we get into why I have a soldier wheelchair bound with a shattered orbital socket, broken nose, and broken collar bone until we get a neurosurgeon on board."
(She had counted off the maladies off on her fingers while listing them.)
"and another suffering brain damage and deep tissue bruising from a blood choke, I'd like to go over this first."
She pressed a button on her desk and surveillance footage from a camera on the gym ceiling started to play. You couldn't see into the changing room or shower room directly from the vantage point. But you could see the entrances and some of the floor. As the video played you could see Alarees already working the punching bag. Shortly after the two soldiers entered and walked past her. They stood and watched her for a while before one approached and talked to her. She turned and faced him while the other circled around behind her. The one talking to her gestured at something and she turned away back towards the bag. She froze as she saw the other human and backed into the first who grabbed her in a bear hug and started dragging her to the shower room. She started kicking and the other human grabbed her legs as they moved towards the shower. From there you could only see shadows moving in the shower room. One of them emerged and entered the changing room. As soon as the door closed you could see a torso flop on the ground as there was a struggle. The Captain paused the video and turned back towards them.
"I have questions for you Cabalist." She said formally. "First, what was said prior to the altercation?"
Alarees scratched behind her fringe and bowed her head before replying.
"He asked what I thought I was doing on his ship moving about as if I owned it" She looked the Captain in the eyes and continued. "He said to get the hell out of his gym."
"And your response?"
"I told him to go fuck himself" Ree said, her gaze never faltering.
"At any point and time did you threaten the safety of this ship or its crew?" The captain asked levelly.
"No Ma'am"
"At any point and time did you attempt to entice or bribe either of the Soldiers to conduct espionage on the Turian Hierarchies behalf?"
"No Ma'am"
"Very well, you are dismissed. And I would advise that you stick with familiar company until the facts get out. -As a matter of fact, Yeoman." She said turning to Callum Parks.
He came to her side and saluted smartly. "Yes Ma'am"
"When we are done here I want those two idiots' mugshots sent out to all section heads along with this video. Make it mandatory viewing and explain that if anything like this ever happens again I will charge them and punish them to the maximum of my ability, and then remand them to the Hierarchy for whatever punishment is dictated by their laws." She said devoid of emotion.
Alarees took that as her cue and looked at Max forlornly before about facing and leaving. Her respect for the human Captain raised considerably. She exited the office but grew hesitant as she crossed the CIC to the elevator. She caught a few lingering stares, most of them empathetic. Alarees decided to wait for Max by the elevator.
They are not all a bad lot Ree. They are not all evil monsters. You've known plenty of your own kind that have done worse things. A silver suited human laughing hysterically at the flailing corpse of Kantose echoed through her mind.
"Who were these two idiots by the way?" The Captain asked after Alarees had left.
"They came from groundside; they were heading to the Citadel for transfer to the SSV Trafalgar. Private Schmuckatelli and Technician Fleischtasche. Ma'am" Yeoman Parks read from a datapad. She took this in before nodding at Max.
"So Gunnery Chief, now we get to your piece of the pie." The Captain said turning back to the Holo. She pressed play and they sat in silence as they watched Max creep into the gym to investigate only to be attacked from behind. Max actually winced when the Technician smashed into the wall at mach-Jesus and hung his head in shame as he watched himself belt the hapless private across the face. His shame intensified further when he saw how terrified Alarees was when he turned on her.
"You were attacked, I got that. And God only knows what was going on in the shower when you reentered. But you showed a lack of... Restraint. When dealing with the assailants. Tell me why I shouldn't have a psych profile done on you Gunnery Chief?" The Captain said through bridged fingers, her dark brown eyes taking in every nuance of his body language.
Max didn't move a muscle, head and eyes straight to the front as he answered.
"Ma'am, I had the power to intervene, and I did so. I felt a member of my team was in peril of deadly force given the means, opportunity, and intent of her assailants. The Force Continuum states that a level of force equal to or greater than that which has been demonstrated is authorized."
A pencil thin eyebrow ascended into the Captains low cut bangs.
"So you are telling me that killing both of them would have been justified?"
"No Ma'am, only that hindsight being what it is, I should have called security after disarming the first assailant. But given the exigent circumstances of the situation I was presented I felt immediate action was warranted." He rattled off.
Her face softened somewhat and she stood and rounded her desk, leaning against it with her arms crossed. "Yeoman, if you'll give me the room for a moment."
After the Parks left her air of authority wavered and she regarded him empathetically.
"Gunny, you and I have been around the block for a minute. Lets stray from textbook questions and answers and drop the bullshit."
"Ma'am?"
She turned and pressed a control on the desk, rewinding the video and freezing it to right when he blocked the attack with the rod. She fidgeted some more and zoomed in Max's face which was visible over the Technicians shoulder, a light was very clearly in the process of being extinguished from behind Max's eyes.
"I know that look and this-" She forwarded the video a few frames you could see Max mouth something. "-I've experienced and practice to this day."
Max felt his heart freeze.
"So how long were you in Cognitive Therapy?" She asked.
"A year Ma'am" He said cautiously.
"Husband and daughter on Horizon, Collector attack. One of the few Commander Shepard couldn't reach in time on the other side of that Omega 4 Relay." She looked down at her shoes, seeming to age decades right then and there. When she faced him again it was a grieving widow and mother who looked at him.
"What about you?"
Max's shoulders slumped and he took a deep breath before turning his head and looking into those sorrowful eyes.
"Wife, Eden Prime."
They stared at each other in silence for a while. She broke the silence as she hugged herself.
"I think you're use of Control Words deviates from their intended purpose Max. Promise me you will never use these techniques to harm another living soul ever again."
Max nodded slowly. The Captain was back suddenly and she stood rigidly in front of him.
"That will be all Gunnery Chief"
"Yes Ma'am, Good evening Ma'am"
Alarees pushed off the bulkhead she was leaning on as Max exited the Captains quarters. He glanced up at her as he approached the elevator but avoided eye contact.
"Did you still want to get something to eat?" He said when the silence in the elevator became too much to bear.
He kept thinking back to how Alarees had recoiled from him in the video as he turned on her. He looked down at her, just noticing how tiny she really was. The top of her ebony crest and fringes were barely higher than his nipples. The plates were more layered and shorter than a males fringe. You could actually see under skin at the base of her skull. Unlike the horizontal plates you saw on males that cover the back of their heads and run down their neck. The plates reminded Max of feathers dipped in oil. The majority of her slender neck and throat was dark brown skin with a few random plates here and there. Her bony collar plates were mostly smooth, be it from wear and tear or something Turians did cosmetically Max couldn't tell.
She turned and faced him, looking up at him with those piercing blue eyes, which Max noticed were flecked with purple giving the illusion that an amethyst geode had exploded into her iris. Her pupils narrowed into cat like slits as she regarded him, the motion strangely alien but familiar. Max realized he was staring and looked away quickly.
"Yes, would you like to come?"
"Yes."
As they entered the Mess hall there was a distinct pause in activity as a tiny Turian in an oversized white T-shirt and skintight gym shorts clik-claked barefoot across the steel mesh deck while trailed by a hulking monster of a man.
Monster is right. They both thought to themselves.
Max declined getting another tray of food and instead got some hot chocolate not wanting to dose on caffeine so close to bedtime. The cook behind the serving station held up a hand as Ree approached with a tray and reached under the table and opened a separate food compartment. He pulled out a steaming tray of what looked like reconstituted Turian field rations and offered it to her.
"Uh, thanks. I think"
The cook smiled politely and moved on to the next person. Ree plopped down in front of Max and tentatively prodded the food.
"D'ya think they poisoned it?" she mused. She looked up to see Max staring down the cook.
"Gunnery Chief! Palavan to Gunnery Chief?!" she poked him with a taloned finger cautiously.
He jumped slightly and blinked wildly as he looked back down at her.
"Sorry." he said quietly and took a cautious sip of his steaming beverage.
She took a bite of some sort of purple leafy substance and chewed slowly, her mandibles set high, pressed in firmly against her jaw.
"Might as well be poison" she grunted. She looked up at Max who was staring off into nothing again. She debated pressing him to talk about whatever it was that was eating at him but gave him his space.
She finished choking down her food and even snuck a sip of Max's cocoa as he zoned out again. It was delicious, and thick. She could feel the velvety concoction coat her throat and warm her from the inside. She debated on chancing another sip but figured she was pushing her luck in more ways than one. She glanced at Max who was looking at her again, his face unreadable.
She dipped her head in embarrassment as if he could read her thoughts and then burst out laughing. His eyes widened in alarm thinking she was choking on something. He noticed the usual purple/blue hue of her inner mouth parts were coated in chocolate and looked down to see his cup had moved.
"Are you ok?"
"Heeeehehehehe, Terminal Phase Event" She cackled. He looked on confused for a minute before he remembered where he had heard that before and smirked.
As Max cleared off his bunk and lay down on his back he thought about his conversation with the Captain. The bunk jostled as Ree scrambled on to the top bunk with cat like agility.
Alarees.
Tumultuous emotions bubbled up, competing to be at the forefront but none truly stood out at the invoking of her name in his mind. All he saw was the fear in her eyes as he turned on her. Twin pools of blue/purple galactic light darkening as their black cores swelled to engulf all life as animal fear took root.
You did that...
Aubry was there, though the clarity of her memory was hazy. An upwelling of fear and panic swelled in his chest as he realized this. He tried to remember a specific event, anything that he could recite specific details about. Her warmth next to him as they slept in on a lazy Saturday morning, her hair a tangled brown swath tickling his face as he held her. She had always smelled faintly of lavender.
Remember
She had turned to face him one morning, and there they laid. Staring into each others eyes. Her heart shaped face partially masked by her hair. He had moved to brush the hair away but it persisted.
Remember!
"Yes? Oh my god Yes!" She was beating his chest playfully. He had put his hands in her hair, caressing her scalp as he gently pulled her closer and kissed her. He released her and she lingered for a moment, eyes closed mouth quivering.
What were we talking about?
Max realized then and there that all jumping had done back on earth was to rigidly define only small aspects of his memories. The adrenaline painting tiny aspects of a memory in a technicolor experience of emotion with no context.
I'm losing you.
He turned on his side and stared at his suit mounted on the wall. All he had to do is back into it and it would incase him, protect him.
Something tickled his nose as it rolled down it, hesitated, and leapt onto his pillow. The totality of it's existence absorbed by the woven cotton.