A/N: Sorry for the long delay, I've been extremely busy during last three weeks, and I had a writer's block for a whole week. But now my muse is back and I can continue writing.
So, here it is.
One day later, aboard the Excelsior, somewhere in the Terminus systems
Dave sat on his bed in his quarters, holding a helmet in his hands. He looked at the letters on it's side - "M.A.D.E.", as they gleamed on the dim lights of the room. A smile slowly appeared on his face. The set of armor he was wearing now was the only thing reminding him where he came from, who his true family was - his former squad. He remembered the good times he'd spent with them during shore leaves, on different ships, even on the battlefield. They were all gone now, they died for nothing, they deserved more.
He looked closely at the new upgrade he'd installed with the blueprints Garrus gave him. Why did he even ask for those blueprints? He was used to taking every precaution for everything, but would he really end up fighting the Collectors? He hated it when his subconscious was right.
The door opened and Lia entered the room.
"Everything is green, we can go wherever you want," She said and walked closer to Dave. "Are you wearing armor?" She asked.
"Just checking if it still fits me. It's been months since I last used it." Dave walked to the armor locker and put the helmet inside. "And this isn't just any armor. Every member of MADE could build his armor himself. I built this."
"And what makes that one special?"
"It basically makes my barriers stronger, and has a built-in tactical cloak. I can even fly in space with this, the thruster pack is inside the locker," he nodded at the armor locker.
"Fly in space? You'll have to show me someday." Lia smiled under the mask.
"Someday. I think it's best if you get some rest now, you've been working for hours," he took a deep breath and shook his head. "Is it just me or is it getting harder to breathe?"
"Harder to breathe? Oh, the life support!" Lia exclaimed and used her omni-tool. "There, this should fix that."
"Life support? Wait, did you disable it?"
"I disabled it to repair a minor damage to one of the oxygen generators." She said, rubbing her hands.
"And you forgot to reactivate it. An interesting way of killing your captain. And yourself," Dave said with a smirk. "See? You need some rest."
Lia sighed. "You're right. I'll go to my quarters. See you in a few hours."
Dave nodded. Lia walked out of the room and he was alone again. He was about to head to the cockpit when he heard a beeping sound. He knew what it meant.
"I wasn't expecting you to call so soon, Liara."
"I know. I have an assignment for you," Liara's voice was heard in his room.
"You do know that I have problems of my own, right?"
"It won't take too long, and if Colius learns where you are, I'll make sure you have enough time to react."
Dave sighed. "What do you want me to do?"
"I need you to pick up Lisea from a human colony Ferris Fields. She did her job, but she needs to transport a Prothean data archive to Mars."
"Prothean?" Dave frowned. "If it'll help against the reapers, I'll help. How do I get on the planet?"
"I've created a false ID for you. The name is the same, but your past isn't as... colorful. You were hired by Hahne-Kedar. You can read the rest in the file I'm sending."
"So, I just get in there, grab Lisea and get out? I think the fact that I'm in a warship with six cannons is going to make things a little harder," He rested his chin in his hand. "I'll fake some kind of damage to the ship and request emergency repairs. I don't think they'll refuse."
"Handle it they way you see fit. It's not urgent."
"Understood. Grayson out." Dave disabled the comm and left the room...
Several hours later.
Dave got within two million kilometers of Ferris Fields and slowed the ship down.
"It's time," he looked at Lia, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat.
Lia nodded and waved her hand to open a new window of the console. "Overloading the power core... now."
Everything shut down, and for a moment, there was a complete darkness. Only Lia's mask and the command consoles were dimly lit. Soon, the emergency reserves kicked in and the ship was lit with red lights.
"Not bad," Dave looked at Lia with a grin. "Let's see if these colonists buy it."
He increased speed and headed towards the colony. The planet grew larger and larger, and soon they could easily see green continents surrounded by purple oceans. Most of the planet was covered in thick, purple tinted layer of clouds.
"Travel guide did say it was a rainforest planet." Lia said.
"I just hope there aren't any carnivorous plants down there. Man-eaters creep the hell out of me."
"You're afraid of plants?" Lia giggled.
Dave looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be almost eaten alive? Hundreds of poisonous teeth ripping flesh out of your body, and there's nothing you can do about it because the poison has paralyzed you..."
"Dave, I... I can't imagine what it would've been like.I didn't mean to..."
Dave let out a sigh. "I was lucky our medic was there. He got it's attention before it could swallow me."
They were quiet for a few seconds.
"When did that happen?" Lia asked quietly, almost whispering.
"Long before I left MADE. I've never been in a rainforest ever since," He paused. "I'm activating the comm," he said and entered some commands through the virtual keyboard in front of him.
"This is S.S. Excelsior to Ferris Fields, do you read?" He spoke through the comm.
"S.S. Excelsior, this is Ferris Fields command. We read you."
"This is S.S. Excelsior. The ship has suffered a power core failure and we're running on emergency batteries. Requesting permission to perform an emergency landing and repairs."
"Understood Excelsior, stand by."
The comm was quiet for several seconds. Dave and Lia looked at each other in anticipation of the answer. Lia was still trying to imagine what Dave probably went through, she felt sorry for him again.
"S.S. Excelsior, this is Ferris Fields command. Permission granted. Proceed to the designated coordinates."
"Understood."
Dave disabled the comm and looked at Lia.
"Guess we're getting another shore leave," he said, smiling.
"Try not to find any assassins here too," Lia grinned.
"Except for Lisea, I don't think there will be anymore assassins here. Now let's see how this girl can handle planetary landing on emergency power."
He tapped some holo-buttons in front of him and the Excelsior's engines pushed the ship from the planet's orbit into its atmosphere. After a few minutes of shaking and loud humming, they passed through the cloud layer. They were flying above a medium-sized town, surrounded by a thick rainforest from all sides. The starport was near the least populated side of the town.
Dave looked at Lia, who had her hands clenched around the edges of her seat with such force, that it looked like she was about to tear it off the floor, and chuckled.
"I don't believe it," he said with a smirk. "You just blew up your ship's power core, and you're afraid of some atmospheric turbulence?"
Lia quickly removed her hands from the seat. "This isn't space!" She said nervously. "If one of the engines fail here..."
"We'll just bail out," Dave tried to calm her down. "You know, you remind me of myself on my first planetary missions," he chuckled.
Lia turned her head to him, surprise furrowing her brow. Did he just say that she was like him?
The ship slowly closed in on the starport and landed on one of the landing pads.
"Remember, we work for Hahne-Kedar," Dave looked at Lia, who nodded in response.
"Is this all really necessary?" She asked.
"Unless you can convince them to just give us a piece of ancient alien technology, we'll have to, um... take it without permission," he got on his feet. "Or Lisea could have a plan of some kind."
Lia got up and followed him to the exit. As they got closer to the airlock, Lia used her omni-tool to open it. The bright light coming from outside blinded them for a split second. Then they saw five silhouettes standing right outside the airlock. Four of them were armed. The unarmed man in the middle stepped forward. "Welcome to Ferris Fields. My name's Robert Cortez, chief of starport security. And you are?"
Dave frowned for a second, as if he remembered something, and then stepped off the ship. "Grayson. David Grayson. This is Lia'Vael nar Ulnay, my assistant," he signaled Lia to come closer.
"Nice to meet you both. I'm sorry for this inconvenience, but you'll understand that when an armed vessel lands on a colony like this and an armored man steps out of it, there will he suspicions. We'll have to search your ship."
"Of course. I assure you, nothing you find in there was meant to threaten your security. Open the cargo hold, Lia."
Lia hesitated for a second, surprised by Dave's obedience, but the confident look on his face reassured her. She tapped her omni-tool, and two large doors on the aft section of the ship slowly opened. Robert nodded at the opened doors and the other four quickly entered the ship.
"So, what brings you to this system?" He asked after a couple of minutes of silence without moving his head away from Dave.
"We were hired by Hahne-Kedar corporation to root out the malfunctioning mech series."
"Hanhe-Kedar? We ordered a shipment of LOKI mechs that were to be delivered two days ago. Is that why they never arrived?"
"Be glad they didn't. The mechs got crazy, and shoot anything in sight. Then, they self destruct. I was sent to intercept the shipment that was coming to this colony and stop them, but a solar storm in the neighbouring system had already disabled the transport ships. Unfortunately, the same storm messed up my ship, and after a relay jump the power core overloaded."
"I tried repairing it in space, but I didn't have the necessary components," Lia stepped forward. "We thought you might help us."
Robert crossed his hands and stared at Lia. "Let's see what the boys find in your ship first."
They waited for a few more minutes. Then, one of the men walked out of the ship.
"Find anything?" Robert asked.
"Two Vipers in the weapons locker, two pistols in the cockpit, and an armor locker. That's all." The man replied, and the other three left the ship as well.
"The weapons are for safety measures," Dave said. "In case we had to use force on the mechs."
"Scan them too." Robert nodded at Dave and Lia. One of the armed men approached them with his omni-tool and activated the scanner.
"No surprises here," he said after finishing the scan.
Robert looked at him with a frown. "Again, sorry for the inconvenience. Would you like us to send a repair team to your ship?"
"I don't think they would understand the Excelsior's systems," Lia said. "I'd prefer to do it myself. I just need the components."
"You'd be surprised how talented our engineers are. We even have a quarian here," Robert replied. "Well, if you don't need our help, at least let us give you a lift."
"Of course." Dave said and they all headed to the shuttle nearby. When everyone was aboard, the shuttle lifted from the ground with a humming noise and flew off to the town center.
"So, there's another quarian here?" Lia asked Robert, who was sitting on the opposite side of the shuttle.
"Yeah, he's on his Pilgrimage or something. I don't remember his full name... I've heard people call him Kenn, through."
Lia swiftly looked at Robert with her eyes widened after hearing this. She then looked at Dave, who responded with a smile.
Robert suddenly got on his feet. "I need to inject you with an immuno-booster, Mr. Grayson," he said, grabbing a jet injector from one of the medkits.
"For what?" Dave asked with a frown.
"Some of the insects here can kill you in two stings if you're not protected."
"Oh..." Dave said and patiently waited as Robert placed the injector on his neck, releasing the medicine.
They were silent for the rest of the way. In a few minutes, the shuttle landed near the center of the town. Dave and Lia stepped on the ground.
"Don't mind if some of the colonists give you strange looks. An armored man is an unusual sight here." Robert shouted from the shuttle loud enough for them to hear through the humming.
"I'll keep that in mind. We'll gather the necessary components and leave as soon as we can," Dave replied.
"Hey, unless you start a firefight around here, you can stay for as long as you want."
"Thanks for the hospitality, we'll take it from here."
"Have a nice stay," Robert said and the shuttle door closed. The shuttle lifted from the ground and flew off to the starport.
"Keelah... I can't believe Kenn is here. What's he doing on a human colony in the Terminus?" Lia turned to Dave as soon as they were alone.
"You're asking me?" He frowned.
"After what happened on Omega, I thought he'd pick someplace calm and safe. I guess he just can't stay out of danger," Lia shrugged.
"Well then, that's something you two have in common," Dave said with a grin.
Lia looked at him and let out a slight giggle. "That's probably why he's my best friend. Will we have time to see him?"
Dave smiled. "Liara did say this mission wasn't urgent. I think there's time for you to find him. Just try to be discreet until I find Lisea, don't attract too much attention."
"Thanks, Dave," Lia said, smiling and prepared to leave.
"Make sure the Excelsior's ready to fly within two hours," Dave said before she'd left. "These colonists might not be as friendly after we're done."
"I just need to cross a few wires, I only overloaded the flow capacitor," she replied.
Dave sighed. "Alright, but if I have to defend my ship from the angry colonists because I couldn't fly away in time, I'll throw you out the airlock."
"No you won't," Lia giggled and walked away. Dave kept looking until she was out of his sight, and then activated his omni-tool.
"So, how did this little field trip go?" He asked over the comm.
"Emergency landing, huh?" Lisea's response was heard. "Hope you didn't really break your ship."
"Just the power flow capacitor. Where are you?"
"See the tall building on your left? That's the colony's tech center."
Dave looked on his left and saw Lisea looking from a window of that building. "So you really convinced these people that you're an expert on Protheans?" He asked with a grin.
"These people know this thing's nothing but trouble. They want to get rid of it as soon as possible. I have to admit though, I've never spoken so much technobabble in my life."
"I didn't even know you could speak technobabble," Dave smiled. "Got a plan on how to get that thing out of here?"
"I've already told the officials that I would transport the data bank off this planet whenever I could. So, I'll "accidentally" learn that there's a mercenary here, and will hire you to transport me to Mars."
"Simple enough," Dave was going to cut the comm, but remembered something. "Is there anything here I'd be interested in, or should I just wait in the ship?"
Lisea's chuckle was heard in response. "Something you'd be interested in? No, they don't keep stray quarians here for you to take home."
"I'd like to hear you say that when Lia's around," Dave said with a grin.
"No thanks. Do you know what she did on that freighter before you rescued us?" Lisea let out a chuckle. "She kept popping those mercs' heads and then carried a wounded helmsman to the bridge. That's when she got shot."
"That's... unexpected," Dave said with a frown. "I'll admit, she's full of surprises."
"Figured there was something special you liked in her. Normal people tend to die around you."
Dave just replied with a quiet chuckle and cut the comm.
Two hours later
Dave got off the shuttle he'd taken back to his ship and headed towards the Excelsior. He saw another shuttle near it. Out of curiosity, he walked faster to see who it was. The airlock of the Excelsior was open and Dave entered the ship, looking around to see who was inside. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice from the eezo core room. It reminded him of Kenn.
"That capacitor will burn out as soon as you start the engines," the voice said. Dave looked inside the room and saw Kenn and Lia crouched near an open panel on one of the wall.
"Keelah... how could I miss that?" Lia got up. "We need to replace it."
"There are a few PI-6 capacitors in the colony reserves. I'll see if I can get permission to take one." Kenn got on his feet.
"Thanks, Kenn. Just make sure you bring it before David comes back. The ship should've been repaired by now."
"Too late for that," Dave said with a smirk and entered the room. Kenn and Lia looked at him in surprise.
"Dave? How long have you been standing there?!" Lia asked, rubbing her hands.
"Long enough to hear the interesting part," he said, smiling. "How are you doing, Kenn?"
Kenn looked at him for a second. "Much better than on Omega. Thanks for asking Mr. Grayson. I help these people build their home, and they'll help me return to mine."
"Glad to hear it."
"A piece of advice - don't trust her when it comes to power distribution systems." Kenn nodded at Lia.
She rested her mask on her hand and shook her head. "Keelah..."
"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Dave chuckled.
"Kenn, the flow capacitor," Lia said firmly and looked at him.
Kenn let out a chuckle. "I better go before she gets really angry. It never ends well for me."
"I know what it's like, so I won't stop you," Dave grinned. "Are you sure we can't use the engines without replacing that part?" He asked before Kenn had left the room.
"It's not just the engines," he turned around. "Everything on this ship is connected to only two systems - primary and emergency. Using anything that requires a lot of power from the primary source will overload this capacitor. "
"And this landing almost completely depleted our emergency reserves," Lia added.
"Alright then, I'll wait for you," Dave said and Kenn left the ship.
"Didn't you tell me you'd just cross a few wires and we'd be ready to fly?" Dave asked with a smirk once they were alone.
"It's not my fault that your refitted ship came with defected flow capacitors." Lia grinned.
"The company that refitted it is owned by a volus, so I think defected parts are expected. Let's hope Kenn comes back soon, Lisea should be here with the artifact any minute now." Dave said and pushed against a wall. "So, how did you like this colony?"
Lia walked close to him. "I'd say it's a nice place to live. Nice people, cozy little houses... Kenn is lucky to be here."
Dave looked at her. "Think you could live here?"
"Me? No. I don't belong on a planet. My place is on a ship, all the time. I think every quarian would say the same. You?"
"You already know the answer to that. The life I'm living now is the one I chose, and I'm not planning to change that yet. Besides, I can't just settle down and wait for the Reapers to invade."
Lia playfully huffed . "Thanks for reminding me of that. Sometimes I think that everything we're doing now is in vain."
Dave put his hand on her shoulder. "Nothing's in vain. We'll take Colius down and then help Shepard stop them. Whatever happens, we'll keep fighting, we won't give up."
Lia looked at him, smiling. She was about to say something, but suddenly Lisea entered the room.
"Where the hell have you been?! I've been trying to contact you for past twenty minutes!" She said.
"What?" Dave turned to her. "There haven't been any incoming comms for past hour. Maybe your omni-tool messed up."
"It's working perfectly," Lisea said after tapping some holo-buttons on her omni-tool. "Wait, I think the receiver is dead. Check yours."
Dave and Lia activated their tools. None of them could detect any signals of any kind.
"Something's wrong here. Do you have a dampening field around your ship?" Lisea asked.
Dave shook his head. "Let's try the ship's communicator. It's in the cockpit."
They headed to the elevator pad and stepped on it. The pad slowly ascended and lifted the three on the second walked to the pilot's seat. Dave pulled up a screen and tapped some buttons on it.
"Damn, I can't even raise the colony command center. Something's definitely wrong."
They were quiet. None of them knew what was wrong. Suddenly the silence was replaced by loud humming. Then there was shaking. They looked outside to see what was causing it.
Black stains appeared in the clouds. They started descending slowly, like streams of water, and more of them appeared again. A familiar ship appeared from the clouds, the ship of terror, the ship of death. Soon, the furthest part of the town was covered in an ocean of black.
"Goddess..." the word escaped Lisea's lips as she watched all this.
"Collectors..." Dave mumbled…
Lia looked at all this in terror, unable to say a word.
"There's still a way out. Bring the data bank aboard and seal the ship," Dave ran to the elevator pad.
"Where are you going?" Lia instinctively took a few steps toward the elevator.
"If we can't fly without that capacitor, I need to bring it here."
"But Kenn already…" Lia's body froze before she could finish the sentence. "Oh Keelah, Kenn…"