The first splattering of morning sunlight rays crept their way into the tent, reminding Magnus that he hadn't gotten much sleep through what had remained of the previous night. The light promised warmth and respite from the oncoming winter, he couldn't remember a cloudless day since landing on the surface. The warmth around him was more than that he had laid down with, apparently he had slept long enough for someone to add an extra blanket. The fur-lined material threatened to keep him hostage despite his stomach's yearning for nourishment.

Tarina was still asleep in his arms, he had no idea how he had managed to actually lay in such a position for a prolonged period. His arms were numb but he was in no hurry to unravel them. He looked over her shoulder to see Marius curled up in a ball between her neck and chest, he was starting to get too big to make that trick work for long. A soft snore came from the content child, he was utterly oblivious to the world around him.

Magnus wish he could have stayed like that forever, with his loving family safe from harm. Some day they could have that life, but there was much work to be done before then. With that dose of reality sinking in, he pushed the fogginess of sleep from his mind and made to get up off of the hard ground. He muscles moaned at the effort, he wasn't sure how many more years he could tolerate sleeping outside of a proper bed. He looked over at the pile of armour, thinking that it might provide an extra layer of warmth. He wasn't eager to leave the ancient family relics unattended where anyone could attempt to steal them.

Tarina rolled over to take the spot he had vacated. Armour would take time to put on and could possibly create enough noise to disturb her. He resigned himself to take her pistol and its holster instead, buckling them on quietly. No need to be entirely vulnerable if he could help it, besides he wasn't likely to be up for long. All he wanted to do was find a quick bite to eat and bring some back to Tarina, maybe get a better feel for their current location, and possibly learn more about the mountains that they were planning to travel into.

Before he left her side, he made sure the extra blanket was secured around her. Lightly he touched her forehead, part of him wishing she was awake enough to tell him that she was feeling better. She didn't acknowledge the gesture, too deep in sleep to notice anything. He was confident her fever had subsided a great deal since the last time he had checked.

The campfire from the previous night was barely glowing, waiting for fresh wood to keep it going. No one was sitting beside it, the entire camp was still and silent. The back of his neck prickled as he sensed someone standing in his blind spot.

"Good morning, Major," Doctor Tomas greeted him with a yawn. She was carrying a small stack of fresh kindling.

"Need a hand?" he offered in a hushed voice, not wishing to wake anyone.

"Got it covered, but thanks. Was about to boil the kettle for some tea. Interested in a cup?" she said as she walked past him. Delicately she lowered her load and began stoking the new fire.

"I've never heard a finer offer since I left home," Magnus meant it. Just hearing the word "tea" brought him a sense of inner peace and comfort that no fire could ever compete with.

"Well, you've never had this kind, that I'm sure of. That's one thing about coming from an English background, we always have time for a cup of tea, no matter where we are," she smiled as she continued about her task. "You know, a lot of that stuff they say about mixing levo and dextro food is absolute rubbish. Drinks are almost always a safe thing to share. You can't really be poisoned for eating the wrong stuff anyway, you might get a bit sick or suffer from malnutrition but the symptoms are generally no worse than any food allergy. It's too bad there's so much misinformation out there, we should be sharing our culinary techniques just as often as our blueprints for prototype warships."

The kettle finished boiling, allowing the doctor to pour the contents into the prepared mugs resting precariously on her knees. She put the teabags in and let them soak, occasionally seeping the liquid until it was the right colour. Magnus watched in fascination as the process was almost identical to what he was accustomed to. There was something very soothing about preparing the tea, the ritual could be more rewarding than actually drinking the hot liquid.

"Do you ever get homesick?" she asked while waiting for the temperature to reach an appropriate level for consumption.

"All the time," Magnus said, surprised by the personal question. "Invictus is a beautiful world, lush and full of life. The environment is a constant reminder that no matter how advanced our technology gets, nature can always kick our ass. Very humbling, sometimes we need that. What about you?"

"It sounds nice, I'd love to visit some day," she said in a dreamy voice as she tried to imagine it. "I don't really miss home that much. Well, I used to when I was still new on Palaven. Being the only human for thousands of kilometres has that effect. But I got used to it. Every day was something new, seeing something new, tasting something new, learning something.. you get the idea.

There are somethings I'll never get used to, like the soldiering lifestyle. When people address me as lieutenant instead of doctor, I get a bit irritated. Not because they're incorrect, it's just, I don't think of myself as an officer. It's my duty to heal people, not to take lives. Shouldn't have gotten so carried away during the officer training. Guess it's in my genes to overachieve, family's always been guilty of that.

Which reminds me, is it correct to address you as a major or as a sergeant? I hope you'll pardon my ignorance."

"It's an unusual rank, so not a ridiculous question to ask. Most people skip it altogether, I kind of got stuck at sergeant for too long. My own fault really, didn't want to get any weird assignments. Major is the correct term most of the time unless there's a real major present then it would be rather rude to address me as one. Since sergeants are much more common, it makes sense to distinguish a sergeant-major from the rest."

"Makes sense, thanks for clarifying that," she picked up one of the tea mugs and handed it to him. "Should be ready now, if we wait any longer it'll turn into iced tea and nobody wants that."

"It smells..different," Magnus couldn't think of a better way to describe it. Of course it was different, it was of human origin. The black colour was also unusual but he had heard of dark teas being commonplace in colder locales.

"It's called Earl Grey. We often drink it with milk and sometimes with sugar, neither of which are available today," she explained in a sorrowful tone as she took a tentative sip of her mug, confirming that it wasn't too scolding.

"Milk and sugar, that's blasphemous. Tea is meant to be simple, pure in its integrity," he said with mock fervour.

"To each their own," she didn't see the point in debating a difference in personal preference for which he admired. He would have to remember that not all humans were quick to push their ideas on others.

The conversation lulled as they partook of their beverages. Magnus couldn't decide if he liked the flavour or not, the subtle aroma was pleasing albeit too foreign for him to take much pleasure in. He missed the earthy tones of his usual brew and the morning meditation ritual that followed it. Never in a thousand years would he have expected to be sitting in the Palaven wilderness during a war against an unknown enemy with a human female as his only source of company.

He looked up at the blue-beige sky. The morning light was deceptively bright, little warmth came with Trebia's glow. As the morning progressed, he could make out more signs of their surroundings. The mountains to the east blocked most of the view though he could still make out the telltale flaming streaks of falling debris from an ongoing orbital conflict. The sight of meteors was once a rare occurrence, now it was far too common. He wondered if there'd ever be a day without the falling stars reminding them of far away battles, of far away brothers and sisters-in-arms defending their home to their last breath. In the other direction, towards what he suspected was the remains of the city of Tyris, a large cloud of smoke and ash rose high into the atmosphere.

He used to enjoy the serene calmness of the early morning hours, when everything was still and undisturbed. The surrounding view made him feel guilty that he was safe, unscathed, and relatively protected. He glanced over at the tent that contained Tarina and Marius, knowing that they could sleep in without fear of enemy attacks. Again, he looked to the sky for inspiration, this time seeing a flock of native birds riding the air currents above with their dazzling, chromatic wings powering them along like the starfighters that were modelled on their body shape. Life always found a way, every day of it was precious, he couldn't forget that.

Once he reached the end of his cup, he decided he had had enough time reflecting. Time to focus on the present, to get down to business. The first order was to understand more about the doctor, she was the de facto leader of the camp even if she didn't think of herself as more than a civilian. He couldn't sit idly by while someone wasted their potential, regardless of their species.

"What's it like being a civilian"? he enquired when it became obvious that nobody else was going to interrupt them any time soon.

"It's kind of boring really, there's no sense of direction or purpose beyond one's personal goals," the human had to take a moment to think of an answer, still holding the mug in her bare hands to keep them warm.

He couldn't get over how delicate her skin was, how bare her fingers looked without talons. There were no obvious natural defences in her anatomy, no spurs or piercing teeth or hard carapace to keep her safe. He would have to ask about how her species had survived long enough to become spacefaring some other time when he could think of a polite way to broach the subject.

A sharp wind picked up before she could pick her next words, tossing her unbound hair above her shoulders. It relaxed back into cascading waves of brown down her back as soon as the wind died down. He'd have to ask about that too, how did they endure the pain of moulding their hair into different shapes? She was so alien in her appearance that he couldn't imagine ever being entirely comfortable around her.

"I always thought it would be quite liberating to have the freedom to do whatever you want," he continued, forcing himself to stay focused.

"I guess. One thing I've really appreciated about joining the Hierarchy is that everyone has a greater purpose. Everyone has a role, everything works with great efficiency. You have more personal freedoms than we do, basically anything is allowed as long as duty doesn't suffer.

Humans don't like being told what to do, everyone thinks they're special and unique. And maybe that's true but the common good often suffers for it."

"I take it you didn't like having to go through the special training to become a citizen then?"

"No, I didn't mind it," she tried picking her words carefully again, trying to think of the best way to explain her views. Maybe she wasn't accustomed to people asking her too many questions that didn't relate to her job, the average turian probably wouldn't care about her personal history if she proved herself capable and reliable. Magnus wasn't sure why he cared so much, he was mostly looking for a distraction to pass the time. That and he couldn't resist a chance to offer some mentoring advice if it was asked for.

"Soldiering has been in my family for a long time, some of my ancestors fought in the world wars over two hundred years ago. Not because they wanted to but because they had to. Everything we held dear was under threat, much like the war we now face. Conscription has seldomly been used since those days. Hell, back then women couldn't fight, they were mostly cooks and nurses, occasionally holding roles as spies or passing on messages. Very few could fire a weapon.

So much has changed since then but the Alliance is still no where near the higher standards of the Hierarchy. We're still making sense of who we are on the galactic stage. It's no surprise that Earth fell as quickly as it did though I'd wager the survivors are putting up one hell of a fight. Part of me wishes I could be there but I know that things will be just as hard out here, if not worse. The things I've seen so far, well, I actually look forward to treating the injured because it's better than burying the dead.

It shouldn't be that much of a surprise though. When I was finishing med school on Eden Prime, we had to examine the remnants of bodies leftover from the attack in 2183. I still have nightmares about those things, those half-human, half-geth looking things. Now it's obvious that they were Reaper husks, not that that is any comfort. No person, whether human or otherwise, should be transformed against their will into some synthetic creation. We couldn't tell if they kept their memories or how they managed to communicate. They obviously responded to stimuli such as pain.

That's part of what encouraged me to look into dextro medicine, I wanted to understand what could motivate a former Spectre to invade a peaceful, farming colony. Did he really hate humans that much and, if so, why? A case of morbid curiousity basically. Turns out I actually get along quite well with turians, probably moreso than with other humans."

That surprised Magnus, his first instict had some alien tried to destroy his home would have been to seek revenge not understanding of their motivation for doing so. He felt the need to seperate himself and the rest of his people from the actions of a single individual all the same, "Saren Arterius was more Spectre than he was turian. He fought in the First Contact War so you could say his views on your species were slightly biased. Not that he was alone with such views."

"I know that now," the doctor assured him. "What about you? Did you fight in the war?"

"I wasn't quite old enough at the time," Magnus reflected on the period of his childhood when he was rapidly approaching the age of adulthood. "I remember looking forward to the war, everyone was at the time. Nobody expected it to be so brief. All we knew was that some unknown invaders were threatening us and it had been so long since our last major conflict, the Krogan Rebellions were a distant memory by that time. We thought joining the council was going to be a good move, they managed to turn our armies into a peacekeeping, police force instead.

You could say we were growing restless, itching for a fight to prove that we were still powerful. I remember how bitterly disappointed everyone was when the armistice was signed, our chance for a glorious contest had evaporated. You might not understand, it wasn't that we hated the humans so much as we saw an opportunity reclaim our past glory, to challenge ourselves against a new foe. Every one of us a soldier, we spend our lives learning how to fight but rarely exercising our prowess to its full potential.

I was almost old enough to be shipped out for basic so I had expected the war to be my big chance to make a good impression, to rise in the ranks like the rest of my family has done for generations. My mother was so angry about the rise in taxes to cover the reparations owed to your Alliance. I grew up thinking of humans as a bully race, not necessarily an enemy or worthy of outright hatred but perhaps justifiable suspicion.

The atmosphere in turian space was tense for awhile after the war, that's part of why there was so much outcry when your councillor was throwing his weight around on the Citadel. If only he knew what joining the council really meant, the asari and the salarians want us all to hold hands and get along, to conform to their cowardly agendas. The galaxy doesn't work that cleanly, as any soldier knows. And now we all face a common enemy that will force us to get along as they always wanted."

"Peace is a nice idea but I can see how it might be detrimental. The sad reality is that war and conflict causes us to change, to evolve and better ourselves. That's what the Hierarchy has proven to me many times over," the human didn't begrudge him for his prejudice against her kind. "I had an uncle who was on Shanxi during the occupation, he was a prisoner for much of it. Met his future wife in a camp. They joined up with the Alliance afterwards. Not everything about war has to be bad," she glanced down at her omnitool, probably checking the time. The camp around them was beginning to awaken as people went about their individual chores and routines.

"Wow, I've really managed to ramble on. Looks like people are starting to wake up, I should really check in on patients. Thanks for listening to me go on like this. How did Tarina's fever fair in the night?"

"It's no trouble and I think she's doing better though she was sleeping so soundly that I didn't want to interrupt her with any questions."

"I'm more worried about the illness she's been warding off, she's probably going to be taking a lot of meds for the next week. Appetite won't be very high but you should try to encourage her to have something."

"I'll do my best," Magnus wasn't looking forward to it. He enjoyed spending time with Tarina, especially if it involved looking after her but making her do anything she didn't already want to do was not going to go over well. At least he'd have someone else to talk to while she recovered.

The doctor took her leave of his company for the afternoon while Magnus took the opportunity to check on Tarina's condition. The tent was once again empty save for her and Marius. The two blankets that had been so carefully wrapped around her when he left were piled up in a messy heap beside her. She lay on her back in a deep sleep, her breathing relatively normal but showing all the other signs of fever. Her skin was pale and balmy, the carapace had lost its metallic sheen. Marius slept calmly in a nest of blankets he had arranged for himself after his mother had pushed them away.

Carefully Magnus dug him out of his hidey hole and picked him up, he didn't even need to touch Tarina's cheek to see that she was getting worse. He wondered if he ought to be concerned though the doctor had warned him that she would go through many stages until she had fought off her illness entirely. He decided he'd mention it to the doctor in passing if he ran into her again.

Marius was glad for the intrusion, he was growing restless with his sick mother unable to keep him busy. He preferred the way his father held him, in a half upright position as opposed to cradling him on his back. He didn't care that his father had no idea of what to do with him, any chance to get out and see the greater world was worth it.

They walked in silence around the camp as Magnus took stock of how defendable their position was. More and more people were trickling into the camp at periodic intervals, each bringing only their personal armour, weapons, and whatever food they had managed to pack. There were no obvious supply chains coming in or going out. Turian medics began to fill out the rest of the staff as they joined their human counterparts, much to the relief of the head surgeon. The injuries they saw ranged from minor bruises and abrasions to serious trauma, no one in a life-threatening position was likely to make it to such an out of the way hospital.

There was a general mood of business as usual in the air, they could see the camp develop before their eyes as patients were attended to, recovered, and sent back out to patrol the perimetre or build accommodations to continue the cycle for the next group. Magnus was impressed with the efficency that everyone used to get their individual jobs done, no one was stepping on anyone else's talons. The war itself felt forever away, all that he could witness of it were the casualties.

Stories and gossip began to circulate about what the combatants had seen in their travels. None of it was particularly good news. There was little information from beyond the system, comm relays were still struggling to be maintained on Palaven itself. The buoys by the relay were used only by the military in a limited capacity, it was clear that there was a fear that the enemy could easily eavesdrop on critical messages.

All Magnus was sure about was that there was a heavy diversion taking place on Menae with all of the fleets taking turns to lure the biggest threats away. He knew colonies like Invictus were going to run at a lower priority in a galactic conflict, only the most vital positions were going to be reinforced. There was little sense in wasting resources, the colonies were going to be on their own. In hindsight, he was quite glad he left when he did.

As they continued their walk, Magnus began to explain the world around them to his son. He told him how to distinguish someone by rank, colony of origin, legion, age, gender, and everything else he could think of to categorise individuals from first glance. It was a useful way of making sure one was on equal footing when having a conversation with a stranger, not that Marius would be speaking his first words for quite some time. He wasn't sure what he was so supposed to teach him in what order so he tried to keep the lesson relevant to their surroundings.

Marius was wide-eyed as he saw a wide variety of people around him for the first time, he shyly clung to his father whenever someone would approach and try to give him some form of compliment. Magnus could sympathise, he didn't like strangers approaching him either but babies had a way of bending the usual social rules. Everyone wanted to express an encouraging word, to tell him how brave he was, that he'd get to see a glorious victory at such a young age. Those were the more optimistic ones, Magnus was sure the cynics were keeping their views of the future to themselves.

When they reached the communal campfire, the sun was high in the sky and the smell of roasting meat met them. Cessia and a few others were preparing an evening meal for the whole camp. The steaks and other meats had came from one of the freezers in one of the vehicles, they were told that they had to eat them soon to make way for more. The living conditions were quite comfortable for being so cut off from the rest of civilisation. Cessia insisted that properly cooked meals were an integral part of the recovery process and nobody voiced a complaint save the humans who were reduced to their own levo-specific ration bars.

"Here, eat up and share some with your little one there," Cessia said warmly as she handed a bowl to Magnus.

He couldn't remember what the name of the dish was but he knew it had been one of his mother's favourites to prepare. A very tender cut of meat was placed at the bottom of the bowl with a brothy mixture poured over top. It almost looked like a soup but he knew better, the juices of the broth were meant to soak into the meat, allow the tender pieces to flake off into bite-size morsels. The smell was invigorating, most turian children had grown up on such hearty meals. The only component missing was the bed of rice that often accompanied the crumbling steak at the bottom which had never been his favourite part anyway.

"Thank you, that's very kind," he said as he accepted it.

"I know it smells better than it tastes, my husband always makes it better. He's still bedridden, unfortunately, and may be so for quite awhile. My cooking will have to suffice for now. Shall I prepare one for your lady as well?"

"She's been asleep all day, I doubt she'd like to wake up to a cold meal," he said, trying not to remind her that Tarina and he were not an actual couple. He knew that it was going to be tricky to explain their relationship status to most people so it was best to avoid the subject altogether.

"Too bad, there won't be any leftover with how many new people we seem to be attracting lately," Cessia said as she went back to serving dishes for others.

By the time they reached the tent again, Magnus was up to the bit in the ongoing nursery rhyme about the female warrior who joins the protagonist on his quest. Marius was too young to appreciate the underlying romance portion of the story, he'd probably hear the whole tale many times over before he noticed that part. Tarina was sitting up on her bedroll, reading something on her omnitool but looked up to greet them once they were close enough.

"You two have been busy," she remarked, sounding somewhat jealous that they had had a more interesting day than her. "How's our little warrior today?"

"He's quite popular, everyone loves him," Magnus said with pride. "How have you been faring? Read anything interesting?"

"Dr. Tomas came by a few hours ago and helped get my fever under control. I've only woken up again quite recently. Been reading some of my old writing, mostly poetry. Used to get me through all the hard times. Much of it is quite terrible but its interesting to see how the quality has progressed over the years. Never realised how much of it was about my dad. I don't think he ever knew how important he was to me," she sounded quite remorseful as old memories came flooding back to her.

"I'm sorry," was all Magnus could think of saying. He sat close beside her, still holding Marius who was beginning to yawn and stretch his little arms.

"Yeah, didn't mean to bring the mood down," she said quietly as she flicked the omnitool off. She reached for Marius with her good arm and patted his cheek. "I'm going to do so much better for you, don't worry."

"You're not hungry, by chance? There might still be some left if you want me to grab you something," Magnus tried to move the conversation to something else.

"No, not really. Still quite tired. Feel useless laying around here doing nothing but it's all I can do for now. Thanks for taking care of Marius today, you'll probably have to do it more often. It's ok though, it's good that you guys get the chance to bond. Just wish I could join you."

"No trouble at all. Is there anything else I can do?"

"Stay here for a bit? I know you're probably itching to help with keeping the camp going, probably eager to get your talons dirty because that's the kind of guy you are. Always wanting to help somebody, to do your duty. But I'm a bit lonely and wouldn't mind some companionship. If you've got the time.."

"Of course I have, I'll stay right here and make sure you don't throw off the blankets when it's just above freezing again. Let Marius sleep between us so he doesn't wander off creating blanket forts again," he laughed softly.

Tarina was being far more needy than usual, he hoped she wasn't still thinking about her father's death. He wasn't especially tired but he had promised to be there for her when she asked. Quietly he curled up next to her, touching the back of her and neck gingerly as she drifted back to sleep.

As Magnus himself was about to fall asleep, he could sense that Tarina wasn't quite right. She shivered despite the blankets, shaking in her sleep as something in her subconscious began to unnerve her. He tried to awaken her, to tell her everything was ok. Stubbornly she resisted his efforts, whimpering unintelligible words between heavy breaths. Eventually she broke through the spell, opening her eyes suddenly to stare right into his. Concern gripped him as he held her tight, he had never seen someone move so erratically in their sleep before.

"He's dead, I killed him, it was my fault," she whispered as her nightmare began to fade away.

"You're ok, you're safe with me," Magnus said in a stern voice, trying to keep her alert but calm.

She looked at him, confused, touched his mandibles with her good hand, "Daddy? No, he's dead. You're not him."

"No, I'm not," he agreed though wasn't quite sure how awake she was to be rationalised with.

She blinked her eyes for a moment, "How embarrassing."

"Better now?" he inquired, still holding her close. She nodded and closed her eyes, he lightly kissed her forehead for reassurance. "It's not your fault, Tari. There's nothing you could have done in that situation."

"I know," she said, sounding more sure of herself. "It's a reoccurring dream. We start out arguing over something stupid and then either he kills himself or I pull the trigger. Then I wake up feeling like an idiot. Damn it, I don't ever want to let Marius down, not like I was let down. No kid should have to grow up wondering if they were the reason their father killed himself."

"You're not the reason, you're a vibrant and brave woman full of potential. You may have had a hard life, harder than most, but it's not because you're a bad person. There's much to love about you, Marius couldn't ask for better," he wasn't sure if the words would sink in or not. He rubbed her back, rocking her gently in his arms to emphasise his point. If words couldn't get the message across, then maybe actions could. They had plenty of other current things to have nightmares about, the past had to remain where it was.

"Don't leave me alone, Sarge. No one has given a damn about me like you," she leaned against him, eager for his touch.

"Never," he said adamantly. "You have to get better then we'll move on and figure out what to do next. We're going to have a future. You, me, Marius. Together. I don't care what it takes, if it means going underground or retiring or whatever. First thing to do is to win this war, then we'll take care of the rest. You're never alone."