Her steps were heavy as she made her way up the docking tube and back onto the Intrepid. Goodbyes had been said and promises of writing had been made, but Lily had come to the realization that this was the first time in a very long time that she didn't have that one constant she had come to rely on in her life: Garrus. She didn't have to report back for another hour, but there was no use hanging around the hotel when Garrus had left early this morning. So she came aboard the ship carrying her gear and the all-important stash of food that she had picked up to last her for the next few months.
She walked into the still empty barracks. She made her way over to where their bunks - scratch that, where her bunk sat. She opened her locker, but as she gazed into it she decided she needed to make a change. Opening Garrus's now empty storage bin, she quickly shoved her stuff into it and emptied out her old one. She climbed up onto the top bunk and felt around, but found nothing she had left in it by mistake. Since the lockers were assigned by bunk, whoever was coming in to take Garrus's spot would see that the top bunk was the empty one now. Let the recruit have that least favored top bunk. Lily hadn't minded letting Garrus have the bottom, but she would rather not have a different turian sleeping below her. Not that it even smelled like him anymore, but maybe if she was in it she wouldn't think it was him sleeping just below her in the night. It was the closest thing that she could say had been his.
A few hours later, Lily stood at attention in the hangar bay alongside her squadmates - well, what was left of the squad now. The three of them held their positions as they waited for the arrival of their newest members. They could see the shuttle approaching the ship on a nearby console screen until finally the hangar door yawned open and the smaller vessel was able to enter. Although her face gave every indication of impassive disinterest, inside her emotions churned as she contemplated what this change in command meant for her.
The shuttle door lifted and out stepped Captain Victus, followed by two new turians. One of his aides rushed up to him.
"Sir, there is an urgent call on your private terminal, sir."
"Thank you. LT. Iovis, I'll touch base with you later."
The older of the two turians saluted. "Of course, sir."
The younger one fell in beside Lily at the end of the line. Iovis stood in front of them and pulled up something on his omni-tool before scanning their faces once more.
"This is your new squadmate, Pvt. Filon. The three of you have had quite a few successful missions together - good. It shouldn't take too much time to get Filon here up to speed. The Captain expects a quiet patrol for at least a little while, so let's head down to the sim room and get some practice in. Filon will be paired with Relmos against Serlo and Shepard. Any questions?"
"No, sir," they said in unison.
"Good. Filon, go stow your gear and report down to the sim room. The rest of you head there immediately."
"Yes, sir," they said with a sharp salute and headed off to their assigned destinations.
Once they were out of hearing range of their new LT., Serlo threw a grin at Relmos.
"Guess who is going down? Stuck with the new rookie!" Serlo laughed.
"You never know; Shepard and Vakarian were rookies once as well," Relmos said with a shrug.
"Fine, you got me there. I guess we'll have to see, but this time Victus didn't personally go pick this guy out. We had to have him shipped to us!"
"I'm sure he's good, he just needs a little experience. The Captain probably didn't want to break up our patrol route is all."
The prospect of breaking in a raw recruit didn't thrill him; he had rather hoped that Serlo or Shepard had gotten tagged with that duty. Not much he could do about the assignment now; hopefully Filon would be ready for whatever those two threw at them.
The room stood empty, but their new squad leader stood at the control panel, waiting for them. How he had gotten there ahead of them, they had no idea. At their questioning looks, he just smiled. He waved them into the chamber and they checked over the special weapons for the exercise. They each picked out their favorites and were checking them over when Filon hurried to join them inside. Serlo and Shepard had selected their rifles and pistols as their close range weapons, while Relmos favored the assault rifle for his secondary weapon. The three of them waited as Filon looked over the weapons and finally picked up a shotgun as his alternate weapon.
Relmos cocked his head and gauged the younger turian's selection. "Interesting choice."
Filon smiled. "If they are close enough that I have to switch, I prefer to maximize the amount of damage I do."
Serlo and Shepard moved to the opposite side of the room even as they talked in low voices. Relmos saw his gaze follow their opponents.
"Well, kid, I hope you are good because otherwise those two will eat us alive."
Filon snorted in amusement. "A human, really?"
"Others have made that mistake, don't judge her until you see her in action. Do you think she would still be here if she didn't pass muster with the Captain? Trust me, on a mission there is no one I'd rather have backing me up than those two."
"Alright, for this first round I will be switching up the variables even as both teams try to eliminate each other while dealing with more enemies as well. After this exercise is finished, you will get a ten minute break before the next one," Iovis stated, his voice echoing about the empty room.
Both pairs dove for cover as the room changed to an abandoned city block with opponents popping up around them. Lily shot Serlo a grin.
"Well, this is going to be fun."
"Damn straight!"
The day went fast between all the exercises that Iovis threw at them. Something that Lily was grateful for.
Victus nodded to his people as he marched towards his quarters. An urgent message on his private terminal was never a sign of anything good. He clicked open his console and found the face of a Spectre staring back at him, his cream colored colony marks in stark contrast against his dark face. His mandibles gave only a hint of a twitch before he began speaking.
"Captain Victus, I need an evac at the following coordinates. I have information that I need to discuss in person with you ASAP."
"Of course, Spectre," he began, but the connection had already been severed.
Was that smoke he saw behind Kryik? Something big was up if a Council Spectre was involved. He opened the comm to his pilot.
"I'm sending you some coordinates. Inform the patrol we are heading there with all due haste."
"Right away, Captain!"
"What's our ETA?"
"Five hours, sir."
"Alert the ground teams that we have a Spectre to recover and to be prepped and in the shuttle bay in four hours. Also contact me if anything unusual is spotted in the area. Anything at all, understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good. Victus out."
He opened up the star map for this sector and found the coordinates that Kryik had given him and looked for anything that might draw the attention of a Council Spectre. This area held nothing of value that he could see. He pulled up his personal log and found that so far they had never encountered anything of interest in this sector. He shut down his personal console and left his quarters and headed for the bridge.
The hours crept by as the patrol could only go as fast as its slowest member, which in this case was his vessel. He thought of sending the frigates ahead to secure the area, but hesitated to separate the patrol just in case whatever took down Kryik was still nearby.
"Sir, we are within shuttle range of the coordinates."
Victus looked up from the report he was filling out to find his second waiting beside him.
"Good," he said with a nod towards her. "I want three shuttles deployed, a full squad of soldiers on board each one. Better make sure at least a few medics are along as well. No telling what they might find down there."
"Right away, sir!" she said with a salute, already barking orders into her own comm.
The tropical sun overhead caused sweat to drip down Lily's neck and back, making her want to twitch, but she didn't dare move a muscle as she was lying in wait for either Relmos or Filon to move into view. She nearly jumped when Iovis's voice rang out and their scenario dissolved. She looked up to see it was Relmos who had nearly moved into her line of sight.
"We have a mission. Get your gear and be in the shuttle bay in five minutes."
Relmos threw her a grin. "Looks like I'll escape this time."
"Pfft. I call it a hit because you were totally going down," Lily laughed.
They moved as a unit, tossing the sim weapons down on the table and exiting the room. Out in the main corridor, they joined with other soldiers as they all jogged towards the armory. "Wow. My first day and we get a mission," Filon said.
His enthusiasm had Lily cocking her head to stare at him. 'Were we ever that green?' she thought to herself.
Serlo snorted. "If you want to survive better than you did in the sim room, keep your head down and do as we say.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Serlo, it's just Serlo. I work for a living," she muttered with a shake of her head.
It only took them a few moments to check out their weapons and once more they were swept up in the wave of soldiers headed to the shuttle bay. Iovis stood next to a shuttle. Upon spotting them he waved a hand towards another vessel.
"Serlo, Shepard - you're in that one. Relmos and Filon - you're with me. Our orders are to provide cover if needed, so keep your eyes open."
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Soldiers piled into their assigned ships for the ride down to the planet's surface, for that is where Kryik had sent them. The creaking of the metal as they entered the atmosphere alerted the troops that they were nearing their destination. The doors opened up and the officers were yelling at them to move out. They poured out of the vessel, similar events occurring around them as the other shuttles discharged their occupants. Serlo and Shepard broke off from the main force as they looked for any high ground to scout out the area. The region they had landed in was fairly flat and desolate. The small ship their shuttles had landed around had scorch marks and even some holes punched into its side. It wasn't going anywhere ever again.
The owner of the vehicle exited his ship with a bag thrown across each shoulder. Ignoring the soldiers that formed a protective shield around him, he headed for one of the shuttles. A few orders and once more they were all piling back into the shuttles. Lily only got a glimpse of the stranger and all she could tell was that he was male and turian. Whoever he was, it was obvious he was important since the Captain had sent so many of them to make sure they retrieved him alive. Now that they were on their way back to their ships, well, he was about to become someone else's problem.
~Thanks again to Mordinette for all her help as my beta, thank you! And another to the readers, thank you for following/reviewing/etc!~
