Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans is owned by Sunrise/Bandai, and Mass Effect is owned by Bioware/EA.
Chapter 9
"You sure this is a good idea?"
Orga glanced back at Akihiro. About a dozen Tekkadan members, all in spacesuits and carrying assault rifles, were packed in the passenger compartment of a Turbines launch. Orga, also wearing a spacesuit, was in the cramped cockpit with the Turbines pilot; he couldn't remember her name – there were simply too many Turbines to memorize. He turned back to the what lay beyond the cockpit canopy – the imposing, alien sight that was the Thrill Seeker.
"It's our only move," he slowly replied, trying to find the right way to explain things to his men. "Dr. Vass has been calling the shots and making the deals from the beginning. We – Tekkadan and Teiwaz – have to hold up our end of the bargain. He tells us how to save humanity, and we do the dirty work."
"Hey, can't be worse than facing Gjallarhorn, right?" Shino interjected, trying to lighten the serious atmosphere.
Orga shrugged.
A chorus of muttered "Damn it, Shino"s filled the passenger compartment as the launch decelerated and came alongside the alien ship's airlock. The outer door was open, and Orga took a long, hard look at it before committing to the next step.
"Alright, we're going in." He looked over at the pilot, who looked to be in her late teens or early twenties. "If you don't hear back from us in half an hour, get back to the Hammerhead and tell everyone to run for it."
The girl grimaced and nodded. "Got it. Good luck guys."
"Thanks." The launch's airlock cycled open and Orga took point, pausing only to accept a pistol from Ride. The Tekkadan crew squeezed inside the airlock, sealing it behind them, and waited for it to depressurize. The outer door snapped open in silence, the gaping maw of the other airlock directly ahead of them. Silently, by unconscious accord, they all leaped across to the alien ship at the same time, landing in a slightly looser formation than they started with.
The Thrill Seeker's outer door abruptly snapped shut, and a bright light shone from a spot low on the bulkhead to Orga's right. His breath pounded in his ears as the light slowly moved up, paused near the ceiling, then began moving back down. The cycle repeated three more times, then the light shut off and the inner door cycled open.
Communicating only with hand signals, Orga split the group in three; two teams would burst from the sides of the airlock, while he would take a team and secure the middle. Holding their weapons at low ready, they charged out of the airlock, only to find everyone but Vass already neutralized. The Salarian doctor, for his part, simply stood across from the airlock, hands up, feet shoulder width apart.
"Very competently done," Vass commented, lowering his hands. "Not as fast as some STG or Spectre teams I've seen, but quite extraordinary for young men your age."
"Thanks," Orga replied, putting the pistol in his suit's belt. "So, what do you need us to do?"
"Nothing dangerous, I assure you." Vass leaned over to look at the rest of the Tekkadan personnel. "It requires some of your stronger men, though."
"Shino, Akihiro, get over here." As soon as they approached, Vass motioned for them to follow him towards the galaxy map platform.
"As you can see, gentlemen," the Salarian said, gesturing towards the open panels, "there are some pieces of hardware I require your assistance with."
"You want us to chuck them out the door?" Shino asked, leaning over to take a look at them.
"No, nothing so crass. I do need them removed, but for safe keeping aboard one of your ships, at least until I can arrange permanent storage."
Akihiro grunted. "What are they?"
"The long range navigational database and its backups."
"You sure you don't want us to chuck them out the door?" Shino joked.
"That wouldn't be an effective way of hiding them," the Salarian replied, glancing over at Orga.
"Right, an object in space moves in a straight line unless something happens to it," Orga said, sensing this was a test of some sort. Luckily, he'd been taught a few basics about physics, just in case Third Group had to fight in space. "All it takes is someone figuring out which direction you threw it, and knowing how fast a person can throw something in space, and they'll be able to figure out where to look for it."
"Exactly," Vass confirmed. "Not only that, but this information will be invaluable to your people in the future. But for right now, this needs to be hard to find, otherwise my crewmates might try to get back home – and that would endanger your people."
Akihiro and Shino looked at Orga, who nodded. The two got to work pulling the dark, cube shaped objects out of their sockets and hauling them back to the launch, while the rest stood on guard, policing the unconscious crew members. Orga noticed this, and moved close to Vass to keep their conversation private.
"So, are they…?"
"They're fine," the Salarian assured him. "Merely unconscious and probably going to wake up soon. Once they do, I'll tell the crew about our new circumstances."
And what then?, Orga asked himself. When he took over CGS, he knew everyone under in Third Group would at least follow his orders until he gave them a reason not to, and he knew they needed work in order to pay the bills. But he had no idea what Vass wanted – or even if he really cared about what happened to his shipmates. The alien was certainly willing to help humanity and make deals, but beyond that, he was unfathomable.
You know what, I'll let Teiwaz's Old Man sort this out.
Ride walked over, and after a quick glance at Vass, asked, "Are we done here, boss? There's nothing to do."
"Actually," Vass gently added, "I suspect Mr. Barriston would appreciate having some witnesses to confirm that I am upholding my end of the deal."
Orga grimaced, but nodded. "Good point. We'll stick around until then, I guess."
It wasn't too long a wait, but by the time the first bridge crew members began stirring, Shino and Akihiro had already taken all the navigational database components, to the launch, then offloaded them on the Hammerhead, and come back. The Tekkadan members' boredom quickly evaporated as the unconscious aliens began waking up and panicking at the sight of humans on their ship. Since the Thrill Seeker's bridge crew wasn't wearing hard suits, none of their speech was translated into anything the humans could understand. It didn't matter; the body language, tone, and volume of their speech made their feelings quite clear.
Vass, to his credit, tried to calm them down, but it was a failed effort. Instead, he took to the galaxy map platform, activated his omni-tool, and began speaking. His voice reverberated through every compartment of the ship, inescapable by all who were still living.
"Friends, fellow shipmates, this is Dr. Vass. I have an announcement of tremendous import to us all." Vass waited until the panicking crewmembers quieted down before continuing. "I regret to inform you that our captain and several of the senior officers were nowhere near the upstanding individuals we all thought they were."
This, in fact, was not true – everybody knew that the senior officers got up to some shady dealings, but they were the kind of shady dealings that benefited the crew as a whole, so they accepted them.
"Unfortunately, Captain Dantius agreed to a deal to provide the Batarian Hegemony with a new source of slaves, if one could be found. I know – this seems completely unbelievable… but I have proof." With a theatrical flourish, Vass tapped a few buttons and played Dantius' damning words for the entire crew. "As hard as it was for me to believe this, I knew I had to act. Therefore, when we encountered the humans, I secretly contacted them and asked for their help in preventing Captain Dantius' foul scheme."
The Salarian paused and took a breath. "Captain Dantius, First Officer Irissa, Security Officer Calis, and Science Officer Iallis are dead. The human organization Teiwaz has offered us safe harbor and protection, on the condition that the ship's long range navigational databases were destroyed. As the humans can attest, they have been disposed of. We cannot return to Citadel space, because it would be impossible to guarantee that humanity's existence would be kept secret. This will have to be our new home, at least until humanity has the ability to protect itself from the Batarians."
Before Orga could pull Vass aside and confront him on his lies, all hell broke loose.
A cacophony of shouting filled the CIC; it took Orga a long second to realize some of it wasn't from the restrained aliens in the room, but was being pumped in through the speakers. It was a tidal wave of fear, outrage, confusion, desperation, and disbelief, and even though Vass remained calm, cool, and collected, nothing he did shrunk the wave. Orga looked around: the restrained bridge crew were on the verge of breaking their bonds, his men were unsure what to do. Someone – he couldn't tell who it was managed to shout over the noise, "What do we do?"
"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Orga shouted back, and as he turned to head up the galaxy map platform, he saw the phantom of Mikazuki, the one that haunted him in every moment of doubt and uncertainty.
What the hell am I supposed to do?
The apparition just stared at Orga, exactly like Mikazuki would do. An odd sensation, like a vice slowly tightening on his head, overwhelmed Orga.
You find a way to keep everyone alive.
How the hell am I going to do that?! Orga screamed in his mind as the pressure increased bit by bit. Vass is losing control, everyone's going nuts, and for all I know, we're all going to die!
The phantom Mikazuki was unmoved. Then you'll find a way to do it.
For a split second, Orga's head felt like it was about to explode in the fist of angry god. He closed his eyes, silently begging for release… then, in an instant, he knew what he had to do.
He bounded toward the top of the platform, grabbed Vass by the shoulders, and asked, "If I start talking, will they understand me?"
Milena Dantius awoke in a dark room, breathing hard and fast, and completely unaware of how or why she was there. She slowly, painfully, got to her feet, and stumbled around, trying to figure out the boundaries of where she was. There were two small windows on two of the walls, and two control panels on the walls between the ones with the windows, but she was having a hard time figuring out what that meant.
It took her several seconds to realize that she was wearing some clothes – just her underwear, not anything beyond that. She struggled to remember where she was before this. It took her nearly half a minute to figure out that she'd been in bed with Naze Turbine and Amida Arca, and she struggled to think of a reason she'd be somewhere like this. The best answer she came up was being super drunk and locking herself in a room.
Suddenly, she heard tapping on the window behind her – she whirled around, and dearly regretted it as she almost stumbled to deck. When she managed to steady herself against the door, spots began forming before her eyes. Milena blinked furiously, clearing some of them away, and saw Naze and Amida on the other side of the door.
"Hey… Naze," she said slowly, feeling tired beyond all belief. "Get… get me out of here."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Milena." Even through the haze in her mind, Milena heard the hardened edge in his voice.
"Wh… why not?"
"We know you were planning on selling our species to the Batarians."
It took her a few seconds to realize what he said. Then her knees wobbled as the weight of the words hit her. She took a few deep breaths, even though they didn't do much to ease the fatigue overwhelming her, then stared Naze in the eye.
"H- How did you know?"
Naze's reply was as icy as his eyes. "Dr. Vass told us."
"That backstabbing… no good… son of a bitch." Milena's voice grew hoarser with every word, and she leaned on the door for support. "What… the hell are you… doing to me?"
"Oh, nothing really," Amida interjected. "It's just you and carbon dioxide in there."
Milena's head began pounding as her brain began putting the pieces together. "You're… just going to… leave me here to die?"
"Yes." Naze's face betrayed no sympathy. "Dr. Vass already took care of your co-conspirators. Once you're gone, the threat to humanity is gone. The Thrill Seeker will mysteriously disappear from the galactic scene, and no one will know about us until we decide to seek out your people."
"You'll never… get away… with this," Milena growled, not even sure Naze could hear her now. "My sisters… will make sure… you pay."
"No, they won't. We already have a cover story ready – a tragic accident deprives the Thrill Seeker of her senior officers and strands her far from Citadel space, cut off from the rest of the galaxy until humanity reaches the stars." The corners of Naze's mouth quirked up. "It's quite the tearjerker."
Milena leaned her head on the glass and laughed until she began coughing. "Goddess… I thought… you were nothing… nothing but backwater rubes. But you're… just as coldblooded as… a backroom deal maker on Illium."
Any and all good humor on Naze's face evaporated. "When it comes to the safety of my family, there's nothing I won't do. And believe me, compared to some people out there, I'm being merciful."
Milena couldn't find the strength to reply or keep on her feet. As she slid down the door, the world began turning into a blurred gray mass; as she lay there on the deck, the gray turned into black. It was an all consuming darkness that first nibbled away at the edges of her vision and awareness, and as she faded into unconsciousness, it swallowed every last scrap of her being.
It's too goddamn early in the morning for this, Husker thought as he sipped his carajillo – a cup of black coffee mixed with rum. The jolt of caffeine and alcohol to his system sharpened his senses, pushing the fog of unfinished sleep out of his mind. He almost wished he hadn't chosen the drink, because Jastley Dominokols was practically foaming at the mouth.
"What the hell was that brat thinking! The deal was clear – the ship and crew belong to Teiwaz, not Tekkadan!"
Half the assembled Teiwaz big wigs looked like they were on the verge of nodding off, the other half was grumbling and agreeing with Dominokols, and only the Old Man looked like he was calm and aware of what was going on around him. Husker sighed and picked up the tablet in front of him, speed reading his way through the transcript of the message they'd gotten from Tekkadan and the Turbines. Once he reached the end, he drained his cup – the drink's name was derived from the Spanish word for courage, and he definitely needed some now.
"Jastley, did you actually read the report we got?" he asked, interrupting another diatribe about how impertinent Orga Itsuka was.
"What the hell does that mean?" Dominokols' full fury was being brought to bear on him, but Husker pressed on.
"It says here that the crew was on the verge of, and I'm quoting, rioting and probably tearing us and Dr. Vass apart." Husker tossed the tablet on the table. "I'm thinking maybe we shouldn't be asking for a strip of this kid's hide – we should be asking what would've happened if he DIDN'T convince them to join Tekkadan?"
Husker rarely raised his voice; McMurdo Barriston's raised eyebrow belied the room's curiosity about the man's behavior. Even Dominokols was quiet for once.
"Best case scenario," Husker continued, keeping his tone and volume even. "The crew would've beat the shit out of Orga, his men, and Vass, then tossed them in the launch and fly off, never to be seen again. Worst case, we're all dead because some panicking dumbass accidentally fires off that thing's guns or smashes it into Saisei."
There were plenty of nervous glances among the assembled businessmen, now realizing how close they came to disaster.
"To your point, Jastley, maybe the kid did overstep his bounds." Husker shrugged. "Problem is, he was there and none of us were. That makes it his problem to solve by default."
"Alright, alright," Dominokols conceded, "maybe the kid was in a tight spot. But he still should've stuck to the deal – the crew should be Teiwaz."
"Come on, man," someone muttered. "The kid's been a Teiwaz subsidiary for like, a week or two. He's a rookie making rookie mistakes."
"That's true," Husker admitted. "You can't expect a rookie to make a hard sell for Teiwaz if he doesn't even know what Teiwaz as a whole is and what it can do for these aliens. What is he going to tell them, that we might have jobs for them? That we'll give them money so they'll stay? Teiwaz's name and reputation doesn't mean shit to people from other planets."
Husker stood up and went over to a set of cups and jug of water on a cart against the wall, and poured himself a glass of water. After taking a few sips, he continued speaking.
"Now, I don't know this kid, but from what I've heard about this Tekkadan of his, he probably fed those aliens something like, 'we're just like you, we got nothing but we're gonna make our way to the top and you're welcome to join us.' And that's exactly what they needed to hear." He emphasized that by raising his cup. "Why? Because it's something they can buy into, and it gives them stakes in the game. Now they got something to lose by leaving – a guaranteed place at the table, somewhere where they're always welcome, even if it's not as good as what we would've given them."
In the growing silence, Husker couldn't help notice the sly grin on the Old Man's face. It was almost as if he'd planned it this way – and Husker was fine with being a pawn in the Old Man's games. He knew where he stood with McMurdo Barriston; through the years, they had built up and proven their loyalty to each other.
No, the problem wasn't McMurdo Barriston. It was the fact that the leaders of Teiwaz had remarkably little loyalty to each other, and Jastley Dominokols' ever-present need for control. Teiwaz's second in command was a stickler for having everything run through proper channels, for everything to be approved by him and the Old Man. He never interfered with anything the Old Man did himself, of course; that would be an unforgiveable insult, and potentially deadly. But he would complain about it, and that showed the hidden truth: Jastley Dominokols only projected an image of strength and depended on power and control to maintain it.
McMurdo Barriston, on the other hand, projected strength through his confidence in his gambles and his willingness to let subordinates handle things on their own.
As if to prove that point, the Old Man stood up and declared, "It seems we've all come to an understanding of the present situation. I understand there are some unresolved issues, but I'll deal with those personally. As for the rest of you, I suggest you get some sleep. We'll be quite busy in the coming days."
With that, he left the room, slowly followed by the rest of the Teiwaz executives. Jastley Dominokols took the time to glare at Husker, its message loud and clear – embarrassing Dominokols that way demanded recompense. In return, Husker simply made a show of slowly drinking his water. He did not, and could not, ignore the threat; that could get him killed, sooner or later. But he didn't need to rise to the bait, and he certainly didn't need to give Jastley Dominokols even the slightest bit of satisfaction.
I hope you can make this work, kid, Husker thought as he left the boardroom. Otherwise, we might be getting it in the neck.
Author's Notes: Yeah, it's back! I guess the new year gave me the push to get this out, because I've had the basic idea for how to resolve the stuff from last chapter for a while now. I guess it's a bit like reading the Event Horizon novelization (yes, that exists): taking a break and getting away from things for a while makes it easier to get through something. Also, maybe the Toonami dub airing getting into the mobile armor arc has something to do with it.
Also, yeah, I know, all four bad Asari die in basically the same way (asphyxiation). There's a reason for that.
Hopefully I'll put out more chapters on a semi-regular basis, but who knows - I got some real life stuff coming up that'll be a real time sink.
