Hey guys! Once again thank you all so much for all the reviews! It is really great to hear from you all. :) Thanks again to Vertin for helping me by being my beta and thanks to barbex for the help too. It was very much appreciated! I hope you all like this chapter as it is storytime from Tiberius! :D
Chapter 29
Rescue and Recollections
"Life is bitter. All the faces of the years,
Young and old, are gray with travail and with tears.
Must we only wake to toil, to tire, to weep?
In the sun, among the leaves, upon the flowers,
Slumber stills to dreamy death the heavy hours …
Let me sleep.
Riches won but mock the old, unable years;
Fame's a pearl that hides beneath a sea of tears;
Love must wither, or must live alone and weep.
In the sunshine, through the leaves, across the flowers,
While we slumber, death approaches through the hours...
Let me sleep."
Life Is Bitter,
William Ernest Henley
A particularly well placed shot from Garrus ricocheted off a wall and promptly took out his opponent who had been using a corner in the small hallway as cover. Garrus let out a little whistle at how great that had actually went and internally rued the fact that his current partner-in-crime had not witnessed it. Tiberius was busy hacking into a small terminal, hoping against hope that Lawson was still alive and on this ship.
When Garrus had met up with Tiberius in the docking bay there had been no time for pleasantries or small talk. Tib had shoved him into the shuttle then threw a datapad to him before piloting the shuttle out of the bay. The journey had taken around twenty minutes, enough time for Garrus to skim the information the hybrid had given him. The Raptor was quite a nice ship really, decently sized with enough room for a crew of fifty. Damn shame that it was likely they were going to have to repaint the walls with blood he had thought. He had went to Tib with some questions.
"So who are these guys anyway?"
"I have no idea. They have no affiliations with any of the prominent merc crews. Once we get on-board, I will get as much information as I can. Priority is Lawson's extraction."
"Right, so how do you plan to get us onto the ship, considering it is extremely unlikely that that crew are going to be welcoming to just any random vessel..."
Tiberius looked at him with a small grin and told him to strap into the co-pilot's seat.
"Things are going to be a bit rough. Best suit up fully too," he added, only increasing Garrus's level of concern.
Garrus had only just gotten his helmet on when Tiberius pointed at a ship just out from the main fleet. The hybrid locked on his own helmet and he accelerated the shuttle. Garrus held on as Tib raced them to what appeared to be a head-on collision with the merc vessel. The Raptor's pilot or computers noticed the potential crash and desperately swung the ship out of the way while Tib hit the breaks hard, using mass fields to decelerate rapidly in the vacuum of space. He got underneath the Raptor, quickly activated some sort of shielding then indicated to a place back inside the main body of the shuttle. Tib led Garrus back into the hold and looked up. The roof of the shuttle was another airlock, a series of clamps holding the door in place. Tiberius opened it up and revealed another mass effect field now holding the shuttle firmly to the bottom of the Raptor. He watched as the hybrid started to cut through the hull of the other ship.
"Are you sure you want to be doing that?"
"Don't worry. As long as the shuttle is attached then the atmosphere will be retained."
"What about later?"
"I don't care about later. I care about getting Lawson back intact. That being said, it is probably a good idea to keep suited up."
"What about Lawson?"
"If it comes down to it, I have an alternative to getting her out, via the old fashioned space route."
"Ahem... do I want to know?"
Tiberius stared at him, his yellow eyes almost glowing within the helmet.
"The answer to that would be no."
The hybrid went back to work.
Which lead them to where they were now, fighting their way up the decks until Tiberius had finally found an intact terminal to access. He quickly downloaded as much information as possible before he located what he was looking for. "Got her!" he shouted at Garrus who was busy returning fire to a fresh couple of mercs who had emerged from a side room.
"Where do we need to go?"
"Back down a floor. I have hacked the security doors from this terminal. Lets go."
Tiberius took a grenade from his pocket, armed then launched it towards the mercs in cover. He grabbed Garrus by the cowl and ran for the opposite end of the hallway, reaching it as the explosion rocked the ship. They bolted down the stairs into the small cargo floor that held Miranda with Garrus taking precise shots at some of the now fully aware, and awake, merc crew.
"Nice shot, Vakarian. I see where Gaius gets it from," shouted Tib as a particularly accurate shot clipped a grenade right from the hand of a merc. The explosive fell, bounced off a crate back to where it had come from and exploded, taking out its owner with it.
"He would never accept that as a compliment."
"Hahaha! You know him too well already then!"
Tib launched himself over the small group of crates they were using for cover before powering biotically through their opponents' own. Two mercs were flung high into the air at the impact, only to be expertly sniped by Garrus before they hit the ground.
Tiberius shouted back good humouredly, "Kill-stealer!"
Garrus grinned, "Sorry! Can't quite hear you over how fantastic those last two shots were!"
They went down a small hallway that divided into two directions. Having quickly decided to split up; Tib went down the left side while Garrus cleared the right. About halfway down his corridor, Garrus stopped.
"Oh spirits..."
He caught sight of what could only be Miranda in a room with a glass door. He had immediately recognised her form, even in its current pitiable state. She had obviously been tortured, her body covered in a deep crimson red, her blood he had quickly surmised. Her hair had been removed from her head, and brutally too, if the wounds on her scalp were any indication. That was all that he could see from this distance and he hoped that is all that they would have to deal with. A human male with several facial scars went into the room. Garrus shouldered his sniper rifle, reflexively focusing and tracking the vital points. The man entered and started pacing, his jaw moving as he obviously talked to Miranda who barely had the strength to lift her head to view him. The human pulled out a gun and, to Garrus's shock, Miranda didn't recoil but instead, leaned into the barrel. "Oh hell no, Lawson," Garrus whispered to himself. "I gave my word and I am keeping it, whether you like it or not." Garrus lined up the shot perfectly, slowed his breathing down then pulled the trigger.
A gunshot rang out.
The pistol was shot out from the man's hand and flung away. The merc then tried to move out of the line of sight only to have his kneecap blown out from quickly taken second shot. He fell down screaming and clutching his crippled leg. Miranda herself was far too hazy to register anything of what happened, only that the immediate danger had passed. Garrus contacted Tib and rushed to the injured human strapped to a chair.
"Lawson... can you hear me?"
She nodded her head, her blue eyes seemed foggy and distant with her skin far paler then he had ever seen it. There seemed to be blood everywhere. He pulled out a packet of medi-gel and started covering as many of the wounds as he could while keeping one eye on the other human who was grimacing and holding his leg on the floor.
"We are going to get you out of here," he said softly as he worked the gel into her scalp, her hands and then her feet. Tiberius arrived and stood still in the doorway. His eyes scanned over Miranda's ruined form, his face betraying the depth of his shock. Garrus saw Tib go through a whole gambit of emotions before he eventually pulled himself out of the daze he was in and moved over to Miranda's side.
"Who did this to you?"
Her eyes and head lazily drifted to the side, indicating the human male on the floor as she mumbled almost incoherently, "..Paaauuul..."
Tiberius glared down at the man as he murmured softly in reply to her, "All right. We are going to get you back to safety. Everything is going to be fine now... mother."
Miranda barely registered his words. She started to mumble again before whatever she was trying to say fled her mind as she groaned under another wave of pain.
Tiberius pulled out an auto-injector from a pack he carried and placed it carefully against her neck.
"A painkiller and light sedative," he answered to Garrus's unspoken question. Once Garrus had finished up covering as much as he could, Tiberius carefully unbound her from the chair and lifted her up. He held her carefully in his arms, blood dripping from the wounds still weeping onto his armour. Her head moved awkwardly as he transferred her to Garrus along with the information he had gleaned from the terminal earlier.
"Get her out of here. I will be with you shortly." His eyes were focused on Paul who was attempting to stand.
"Tib..."
"Get out, Vakarian. You don't want to be here for this."
"All right..." Garrus nodded once then took off back to the shuttle, leaving Tiberius alone with Paul. Tib cracked his knuckles.
Paul screamed in pain, his blood spurting across the floor. In his very first act, Tib had hauled the man up then pinned him to the wall with two metal rods which Tiberius rammed through the human's shoulder-blades. He left Paul hanging there as he used the only terminal in the room to view some of the material that had been recorded. Tib returned to the impaled human and stood in front of him for several minutes without saying a word. He tapped a talon on his lower jaw before he went into action. Using the same tools that had been used on Lawson, he had very quickly and efficiently did to Paul all that the human had done to Miranda but with far less relishing of the acts. He practically scalped him of his hair, yanked out every finger and toe nail before he picked up the cauterising knife and grabbed the human's tongue...
It took twenty minutes for Tib to do all that he wanted. He stood before the bloodied man and tapped the blade edge on the end of Paul's nose as the human's jaw moved in awkward motions, obviously getting used to his new stumpy and burnt tongue. "You know, I really hope your audience has stuck around for the grand finale. I have something very special in mind," Tiberius said with a chuckle.
The hybrid hummed a jaunty tune as he took out a couple of bottles from a storage unit and proceeded to pour them all over Paul who squirmed and hissed in pain. The hybrid then took a small incendiary grenade and twisted the timer before placing it carefully next to where he had the human pinned.
"See you later, asshole," Tib shouted before he took off fast. He activated his tactical cloak and bolted for where he had cut a hole through the hull, dashing past unprepared mercs when he heard an explosion and the environmental alarms sounding as the grenade went off. He could almost hear the screams of the human as he burned alive. Garrus opened the shuttle door as he arrived and he dove inside. Once resealed, Tib disengaged the mass effect field and got them out of there. Garrus watched as the Raptor suddenly de-pressurised and spaced its crew; Tiberius having disabled almost all of the safety protocols on the ship. The hybrid himself didn't bother sparing a glance backward and gunned the shuttle for home.
The shuttle landed with only some minor damage in docking bay 2. Victus and Atilius had heard the rush as medical staff ran from the med bays. Knowing that Tiberius was out, they ran with them to the returning vessel. They joined Sidonis and Kaidan Alenko, who had been returning from a friendly sparring match, in the wait for the doors to open. The door eventually did and Tiberius rushed out carrying something that was limp in his arms. That something turned out to be a badly hurt Miranda. Victus went into shock at the first glance of her. All other noise became drowned out by the pounding of his own heart. He didn't hear the desperate calls of Tiberius to the medics, the strangled and strange words that the awakened Miranda was trying desperately to say clearly; and he didn't hear Atilius's attempts to reason with him. He went to her side. Her beautiful long hair that he had so admired was gone, replaced by blood, open wounds and clotted tufts. Her hands were destroyed, so covered in crimson liquid that the damage was almost completely hidden, her feet in a similar state. She looked directly at him, her blue eyes locked on his and she tried to speak. The words did not come out as she wanted and he realised her tongue was gone, replaced by a blackened stump of muscle. He shoved some bodies out of his way and tried to grab onto her, only to be manhandled back. He didn't even realise that he was warbling out his grief and pain until the sound suddenly rushed back to his ears. He registered only that Atilius had pushed him back and was holding him against the wall. The medics quickly got her onto a trolley and rushed her out, while Victus was snarling and struggling against those restraining him.
"Calm down, Adrien."
"Marcus... her hair... her hands... she has been mutilated... spirits... Miranda!"
He struggled again to follow after where the medics had taken her but this time Atilius had Tiberius and Kaidan to aid him.
"Stop it. Let the medics do their thing. They are going to need a bit of time."
He turned to the owner of the voice.
"Who did this, Tiberius?" he hissed out, his voice humming dangerously.
"No one you need concern yourself-"
"IT DAMN WELL CONCERNS ME! Look what they have done to her!" interrupted Victus.
"They are gone now. They got what they deserved."
Victus stared at Tiberius who was covered in red blood, undoubtedly from Miranda or perhaps... He stilled as he gazed at the amount of the red sticky liquid that coated Tiberius's armour. He had done a thorough job of whatever it was.
"I am glad then. I hope they suffered," he muttered.
Tib sniffed. "I am not at liberty to say. I need to get cleaned up. You should go and keep an eye on her. I'll be back to check on Miranda after I get some rest. Maybe... we can talk then if you are feeling able to..."
Victus's gaze softened momentarily and he nodded. "I would like that."
"Then get out of here. They won't have taken her to the main medical bay. I am fairly certain they would have chosen the one about three decks lower; it would be more suitably kitted out for what they need to do. I am sure Sidonis..." Tib nodded at his captain who stood not too far from them. "would be able to tell you where they are once they get her stabilized. And, please. Let them do their job first."
Tiberius nodded goodbye at Victus who was still being restrained by Atilius. The General finally let Victus go and strode out after him as the Primarch took off after the medical crew.
The hybrid looked over at Garrus who was only just emerging from the shuttle.
"Thanks, Vakarian. You are all right, you know. Pretty good shot too, which helps in a jam. I would totally give you a reference."
"Heh. Thanks... I think." Garrus rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Maybe you could make that reference a good word for me with Gaius..."
Tib smiled. "That makes the assumption that I haven't already... don't think I need to again but I will anyway. See you later."
"Hey Tib?"
He spun around to Garrus.
"She would have died if you hadn't found her. You should be proud... she would be of you."
Tib gave a tight smile before he left.
After a shower, an hour of scrubbing his armour and then finally a few hours sleep, Tib made his way down to the bay Lawson was now ensconced in. He found that she had been made comfortable and was now in a deep sleep. Victus had not left her side from the moment he had been allowed in, at least that is what Sidonis dutifully informed him when they met. Tiberius was unsure as to how Miranda would react to his father's presence once she woke up. They had not parted on particularly good terms and after everything that he was informed of... Still, it warmed his heart a little to think that maybe his parents had some feelings towards each other, obviously more than the lust thing that happened. He strode inside. Victus was leaning forward in a chair next to Miranda's bed where he had taken up residence while Atilius was seated on the other side, neither of them talking to each other.
"Hey guys."
Victus glanced up from where he had been intently staring at the floor, "Hello. I.. ahem... I hope you had a good rest."
"Actually quite good. Only a few hours but enough to tide me over."
Victus sat straighter in his chair and nervously flickered his gaze over at Atilius before returning it to Tib. "Can we finally have that talk?"
"Yeah. I'd like that." Tiberius himself glanced over at Atilius who was focused on the sleeping Miranda.
"Any chance of some privacy, General Atilius?"
Atilius glanced up and snorted before he got to his feet.
"I'll be back in forty minutes. I need to talk to Titus anyway." He glared angrily at Victus as he walked past. Tiberius padded over and inspected the patient. Miranda had gauze now covering her scalp, hands and feet. Her breathing was shallow.
"They say she will be fine. A few scars that can be gotten rid of if she wants. I never knew she had the nanites or I..." Victus's voice drifted off. He shuffled awkwardly. "I inquired if she was pregnant..."
"She isn't... or at least, shouldn't be. Although apparently you two have been very active this last couple of days..."
Victus stared at him, "She isn't... thankfully. I just don't think I could handle that guilt on top of what I already am if she was..." He stilled for a moment before he added meekly, "I am struggling as it is." The Primarch turned his gaze once more to the relatively peaceful looking Miranda. "They tell me that her hair will grow back, along with her nails. Her tongue..." He choked back a whine. "They were debating a prosthetic but they feel that might interfere with the nanites and their reconstruction efforts. They want to wait and see what the nanites do."
Victus leaned over and tenderly used his index finger to encourage her mouth to open to show Tiberius. Her tongue was no longer as severely burnt or as stumpy. Fresh growth was visible along the destroyed edge. Not fast growth by any means but there was definitely activity on the part of the nanites.
"How long did the medics say?"
"A couple of months before it is fully restored. Less then that to have her able to taste and talk properly."
"I am glad that the physical bits can be fixed. The mental repairs however..."
Victus went quiet and sat back in his seat, placing his hand over one of Miranda's bandaged and listless ones. Tiberius heaved himself up on to the opposite bed, his feet dangling over the edge. He smiled a little as a memory of his youth came flooding in to his mind.
His father had hoisted him up on to the desktop, Tiberius's little feet dangling over the edge. He swung them back and forth as Victus worked on something with his terminal before he shut it down. Tiberius could recall thinking how much taller his father was than him as Victus towered above the little boy. Tib raised up his hands to show that he wanted to be lifted and chirped happily when he was once more nestled against Victus's chest.
The memory faded and he looked up to see his father's yellow eyes staring at him.
"You look a lot like me. A lot like... Tarquin."
"Hmm. I suppose I do."
"You obviously know about your brother... I hope."
Tiberius nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. Don't worry about that. I know about my hero older brother."
Victus went quiet again.
"Sorry..." Tiberius sighed. "I didn't mean anything by that."
"I would imagine that being a younger brother in the shadow of a... hero, as you put it, would not be the easiest thing in the world."
"No, it definitely wasn't," Tib murmured.
Victus coughed. "I think this is where you tell me about yourself."
"I think you are right." Tib sighed. "I don't even know where to begin."
His father's eyes peered at him intently. "The start is usually a good place. Tell me about how you were..." Victus stopped and coughed.
Tiberius slid down off the bed and started pacing. He abruptly ceased and stood at the end of Miranda's bed.
"My name is Tiberius Victus. I was born on Earth. In fact..." Tib checked his omnitool for the date. "in about seven months from now... maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Well, I am not too sure that that will happen in this time-line."
A thoughtful look came across Victus's face while Tiberius finally let that realisation sink in. He might not even be born in this universe. No Tiberius and Gaius against the world. No small version of him to keep his dad on his toes by going on roofs and crawling into the tiniest of spaces. He took a deep breath to steady himself before continuing.
"In the future we come from, Miranda goes to prison a lot later and when she does, she is pregnant. You didn't know, at least you swore to me that you didn't. You told me that it was a one-night thing. All this tension between you two had built up and then you both got drunk in a bar, celebrating one thing or another. I can't quite recall. Two weeks later, she was arrested. Your plan didn't quite work out. Hackett retired but didn't really. He had more than a few colleagues that would aid him and he kept an operation going, one exclusively looking at hybrids. He found out that Miranda was pregnant while she was inside and immediately had her transferred to a cell in the research compound. He took me from her the moment I was born."
Tiberius's gaze flickered over to the unconscious woman.
"I don't think he knew that I was your child. Not that it mattered really. You know Miranda. She was not... is not the type to take that lying down. They kept her on site and would come to her every day to... ahem... milk her."
"Milk her?"
"For food... for me. This went on for two months. She managed to get one of the nurses who came to see her to sympathise with her plight and agree to help with an escape plan. The night she finally escaped, the nurse had managed to get the codes for a small ship and had left Miranda a small cache of weapons and items for both herself and me. She also left the nursery door open, enough for Miranda to reach me and hopefully get away. Before Miranda did any of that, she paid a visit to Hackett."
Tib rubbed his eyes.
"She killed him. Hackett took to living in a private cabin on base so he could personally oversee the work. I don't know much else than that. She took off with me in tow. She knew that she would be hunted, not just by Cerberus now but by the Alliance as well. She made a decision, one that I am not completely sure where she found the strength to make. She went to Palaven and to you. You were still Primarch and currently entrenched in a deepening divide in the Hierarchy over hybrids. Miranda turned up with me."
Victus searched Tiberius's face for any flicker of hurt or anger. He didn't know if he could bear to hear if he had been a terrible father. Tiberius seemed to instinctively know his thoughts and cleared the air quickly.
"You were a great dad to me. When my mother arrived, you didn't shirk your duty or pawn me off. You offered her safety which she had while she stayed hidden and you remained Primarch. You had hoped to keep my mother safe while you and Shepard worked on getting a decent change of identity, alongside some physical reconfiguring, which would allow her to live on Palaven undetected. You were looking for a permanent solution to the problem. Until I was nearly a year old, you two lived together in a way. I don't remember it but Sidonis does. He said that Miranda had a section of where we lived in Cipritine to herself and she would hide away there, never leaving that space unless absolutely necessary. We had a family unit, such as it was. I don't think you two were... you know. Anyway, that all came crashing down eventually."
Victus cleared his throat before asking, "What happened?"
"They found out about me."
Tiberius's face became downcast, old hurts surfacing from where he had hidden them deeply.
"It is not that you hid me. You used to keep pictures of me in your damn office and show them to everyone who came in according to some of your old friends. It was my mother that was the problem."
"I don't understand."
"No one knew who my mother was. You were truthful to a point, saying that it was a one night stand and that you were now caring for me full time alone. The problem was that you had sent my mother to jail so it was widely known that she was ex-Cerberus. She had escaped from prison, had countless agents on her trail and then you... you hid her. No one would have known but..."
Victus kept his gaze on the turian in front of him as the hybrid started to pace again.
"Damn Marius. Damn him to hell," muttered Tiberius.
"Tell me the rest."
"Marius wanted you gone. I don't know fully how he did it but he managed to find out where you had hidden my mother and me, found out about everything. He brought it to light in a private session of the Senate. You didn't deny it. Atilius stood with you for what it is worth. When the vote came on whether you should be allowed remain as Primarch, it was split 50/50. It came down to one solitary vote. It came down to Garrus Vakarian."
"I take it that he voted against me..."
"Yeah. He did. The minute the vote was passed, you stepped down and my mother fled from Palaven. She escaped and left an obvious trail behind to lead Cerberus and the Alliance away from me, so I could be safe with you, without fear of being hunted like she was for the rest of her days. You would send her encrypted data packets about me and she would send some back to you. In the end it really only meant that you raised me alone on Palaven."
Victus stood up and glanced out the window of the medical bay. "I... So we lived on Palaven then..."
"We lived there till I was fifteen."
"Why until fifteen?"
"Because at fifteen, I was refused entry to the military."
Victus turned to face him. "Oh..."
Tiberius chuckled. "Yeah. Oh, indeed."
"I take it that I didn't take that news well."
"I remember that day so clearly in my mind. I had waited outside the admissions office while you went and dealt with the paperwork. It was kind of exciting really. You had spent so much time preparing me for boot-camp and military service that to finally get there was going to be great. I wanted to make you proud but I didn't get to serve. You were so angry as you left the office and we went home in silence. You told me that I wasn't going to be allowed enter as a regular recruit. They had... a place for people like me, people like hybrids. That night you told me that we were leaving for Omega and by the end of that week we were gone."
"We lived on Omega?"
"Apparently, you and Sidonis had thought that it was probable that one day we would end up there so you already had an apartment and things set up. You became quite a valuable member of the military structure on Omega. In fact, you set up the 11th battalion. It is your ideas that form the core of the entire unit, of constant adaptability to changing field conditions and using brain over brawn or rush tactics. You worked with us right up till you left for retirement on Palaven."
Victus started. "Wait... I left you alone on Omega?!"
"I made you go. I was an adult then and you had spent your entire life serving the Hierarchy, defending the colonies and Palaven. You shouldn't have had to give up all that just for me. We argued for a very long time over it but eventually you relented. You deserved to be with all your old friends and that whole life you had back there. We kept in touch, you would visit me and I would visit you when I could. That continued right up until the end."
Victus took his seat again. "The end? I take it that means when I died."
Tib merely nodded, his mandibles clamped tight to his face while the painful memories came back.
"What happened? If you don't mind me asking..."
"The krogan happened."
"I don't understand."
"Wrex kept the majority of the krogan under control. About three years after the Aegrus war, Omega was attacked by a fleet of ships with krogan crews. Obviously, we crushed them underfoot but it was the beginning of a new time for us all, even for the Council races. We had isolated ourselves as we began the road to recovery after the brutal Aegrus invasion. In our complacency, we did not keep up-to-date with the workings of the galactic community at large. A year or so after the Reaper war ended, a number of krogan had separated from the main tribes and disappeared. They took with them ships and technology then remained unheard from for years. They returned with a vengeance. The genophage had been cured and they reproduced like rodents. They now had a vast army of young and strong krogan, all raised believing that revenge over the genophage was necessary. They struck quickly and brutally, overwhelming the strongest military races first. The Alliance and the Hierarchy became entrenched in their home systems fighting occupation. The krogan rebels decided to hit us with a small testing force. We knew that they only respected strength so we decided to show them our power. We were going to show every Council race our strength. I was among the main force that was sent to liberate the Hierarchy and Palaven. Like always, the turian people resisted. You resisted. We had just reached the outskirts of Cipritine, having hammered the crap out of the krogan forces along the way... I mean we had them crushed planet-wide within a week, we were all feeling unstoppable..."
Tiberius closed his eyes.
"...I got word that you had been shot. I arrived to your bedside just an hour before you succumbed to your wounds. I found the krogan that had shot you and... I did terrible things." Tib opened his eyes and stared once more at Miranda. "Shortly after I received word that my mother had also passed on a few weeks prior. The remnants of Cerberus finally caught up with her. I did terrible things in her name too. I lost an awful lot in a very short space of time."
They sat in silence for a time, neither willing to break the quiet for fear of more emotional turmoil. "So that is it really. That is my story for better or worse."
"Did you never settle down? Have a family of your own?"
Tib gave a faint smile. "There was one that I really thought I could see spending the rest of my life with... hmm... she was beautiful and smart... funny as hell when she got going. Spirits, she was such a flirt too but only..." his grin got that little bit wider. "..only with those she liked. I fucked it all up."
Victus looked at him with concern. "Was it a serious mistake? Was there no room for forgiveness? We are not machines and..."
Tiberius interrupted him. "I cheated on her. I am not proud of it. All because I was stupidly scared... had never been in love before. I just did what I always did. We split up and she died a few months later before I could tell her how much I..." Tib trailed off once more.
"I am sorry..."
"Don't be. It was my own fault. Be only sorry that she died. She was an... incredible person and the galaxy was that bit dimmer with her loss."
Tiberus stared down at Miranda. "Call me when she wakes. I need to explain to her too...about me, I mean."
"Thank you for telling me about yourself and I hope that we can get to know each other a little."
The hybrid nodded. "I would like that too but first I have some things I need to do. I'll see you later."
The older turian stood up and watched as Tib padded out.
Victus stared vacantly at the medical bay door as it closed before he turned his attention to the unconscious Miranda. This was the first moment he had alone with her since she had been returned; Atilius point blank refusing to leave her alone with him. He gently touched her cheek as her eyelids started to twitch. The twitching became more vigorous, her head and body reacting to what could only be a nightmare. Victus carefully pinned down her damaged hands and began to nuzzle the cheek he had touched while a resonating purr passed from deep within his chest to where they connected. Miranda slowly calmed, her movements less frantic and erratic until finally her body fully relaxed. In her sleep, she mumbled out almost incomprehensibly, ".A... ri... e..."
Victus pressed his mouthplates to her cheek before he pulled back from her and sat down. He leaned forward and began stroking one of the bandaged hands carefully.
"I am so sorry, Miri. If I had known what was to happen... hmm. Small comforts now I would suppose. I will do what I can to make this right. This guilt... this pain in me..."
He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.
"I will make amends to you and I hope that you can find in yourself to forgive me." He glanced over at the closed door to the medical bay with a smile threatening to break out on his face. "And just wait until you meet our boy..."
The descent through the darkness and snow of the Glomung mountains was faintly familiar; memories from Gaius's youth that was just that little bit out of reach. After a short time travelling, their view became dominated by a mountain whose craggy jagged peak towered over its siblings. Gaius recognised the distinct almost tooth-like mountain. "Reißzahn," he murmured, the mountain's name not so much appearing in his mind but more pushing itself to the forefront and demanding to be spoken. The distant lights half way up the steep slopes drew his eyes. The Vakarian homestead was just there, protected in a flattened and shallow snow-filled crevice. Kato noticed where Gaius were gazing. "Do you want to visit? It would be mere hour or two diversion. We would be able to put you up for the night and make a good start for the zwielicht borderlands in the morning. There is a lot of family who would love to meet you."
Gaius gave a half smile. "No. No but thank you. Maybe one day but right now our mission is far more important than nostalgia."
He turned his head around, gazing out to the far north where the pole faintly glowed and shimmered. He had never been that far but remembered that, on the clearer nights during his infrequent visits to the Vakarian homestead, his grandfather had pointed out the light from the ice city of CorMundi. "The HerzderWelt calls us all to it in time, young one. One day, it will be your turn too," Avitus had said to him.
Kato guided Gaius and his crew down along old snow covered paths carved into the mountain sides, hidden from view unless you had walked those steps before, as all around them fresh snow whipped up and floated in the breeze. Soon, the Reißzahn mountain and the light from the Vakarian homestead had disappeared, melding almost seamlessly back into the mountain range and the engulfing darkness. The storm they had arrived in had passed by a few hours before and Kato was now pushing them all to get as much ground covered as possible before the next one started up.
Overhead, the auroras danced colourfully across the star filled sky and cast the desolate landscape in colours of green, purple and pink. Gaius stopped and gazed up, transfixed by the dancing light, when he heard Kato murmur softly to him, "Trebia is talking, you know." Gaius turned slightly confused to the turian. Kato grinned at him before turning his own eyes skyward. "Trebia's voice, dancing in the sky. Their gaze ever fixed to us. Right now... they are watching you, grandnephew."
Gaius said nothing, his breath fogging in the cold mountain air. He glanced over to the side and could see Eisa staring up at the auroras too, her mouth moving slightly as if she was uttering a silent prayer before she raised her gloved hands in a strange supplication and slightly bowed to the sky. For a moment, the gloves moved and exposed some of her hand, revealing a yellow glowing design on her skin. Eisa merely adjusted the glove back into the place. Kato came out of his own reverie and returned his gaze to Gaius. "They will call you soon enough. We need to keep going. Come. There is the better part of a day's trek left before we reach the vehicle shelter in the southern territories."
As they journeyed further south, over creaking glaciers and through seemingly impossible mountain passes, the sky slowly began to brighten. Before they knew it they had passed into the zwielicht,into the eternal twilight of the Glomung. The snow began to become less burdensome, the paths easier to navigate and the cold less biting. Overhead, the auroras began to fade, their colour and strength disappearing as Trebia's light started to win out against the darkness. The mountains too became less rocky and craggy, their height diminished as they became like rolling hills instead till eventually the group emerged gazing out at another Palaven day with Trebia crossing the sky in front of them and the dark foreboding Glomung mountains behind them. The snowline had all but disappeared. The group took their leave of their guides at the border between the frigid north and the rest of Palaven. Kato led them off the only paved road into the mountains and over to an ornate building front carved into one of the last mountains that hovered on the border. Old carvings of various turian figures from what must be history or legends, stood guard over the door. Kato flipped a panel cleverly hidden by a stone façade and typed in a password. A small side door opened and he led them inside. The lights switched on, revealing long chambers filled with various vehicles.
He led them further down until he found a troop transport, relatively new too for this time period, Gaius noted. Kato switched it on, changed a few settings then handed over the codes for it to Gaius.
"I am afraid this is as far as we can take you. Eisa and I have business back at the homestead. If you need help then here..." Kato sent contact details to Gaius. "Please don't be a stranger. If we can help then we will. You just need to ask."
"Thanks. Hopefully we can just sort this out ourselves."
Kato put his hand on Gaius's shoulder and gripped it hard.
"Listen I don't know much about what kind of life you have lived up to this point but I need to make things clear to you. In the North, family sticks together. You need help then you call. We will come to your aid."
Gaius swallowed and nodded. Kato slapped him on the shoulder. "Right. Let's get you guys on the road. Eissy?"
The young turian female spun around at the sound of her name from her conversation with Marcus, "Yeah, Dad?"
"Go pick us out a vehicle for the trip back. I don't fancy another long walk. Oh and record this beast of a machine as being out while you are at it. Rather not have the clans all down my neck over it being missing." Kato patted the troop transport as he spoke.
Eisa nodded and smiled. "Sure thing." As she passed, she put her hand on Gaius's arm. "It has been great to meet you, cousin. I hope we will get to see you at the homestead once your business is concluded in the south. There is so much I would love to show you." Gaius smiled at her and the young female jogged towards a small office at the far end.
"This is goodbye then." Kato wandered over to a far door and hit a button to open it. Light flooded in. He returned and shook Gaius's hand. "Remember what I have said. You need help then call. Good luck."
"Thank you, Kato."
The older Vakarian smiled then left Gaius and his crew to aid Eisa.
Max jumped into the driver's seat and began pouring over the console before saying, "Oh hell yeah! This baby is pretty sweet!" Max stuck his head out the window. "Get a move on, Sidonis. I wanna test this machine out."
"Lets go then, Max."
The transport was really a top of the line model. Max was practically crowing with joy as he pushed its engine to the limit, the beauty of the silvery landscape merely a blur to the passengers. Cipritine was a good 20 hours from where the northern border was but with this vehicle, they could easily do it in 15. Gaius took the time to get some sleep, as did the rest of the crew. Max was the only dissenter as he was too energized by having a new machine on his hands to need rest. Gaius closed his eyes and drifted off. His dreams were blissfully empty for once. He awoke to Max shaking him out of his slumber by his shoulder.
"Ugh... What?"
"We are here."
Gaius sat up, wide eyed.
"Already?"
"Yep. You had a long sleep, Sidonis. I think you needed it."
Gaius rubbed his eyes "No dreams for once." He felt strangely deprived, almost saddened at that.
Max looked at him strangely. "You know... everyone has said that."
"What are you going on about?"
"The guys have all been having bad dreams on and off. The first sleep on Palaven and all of them were like babies. Practically unheard of I think."
Gaius snorted but turned his eyes squinting at the sun still shining down on them.
"Yeah..," he muttered. "That is unheard of..."
Kato's words sprang up in his mind, that Trebia's gaze was fixed on them... on him. He got out of the parked vehicle and stretched before joining the rest of his crew who stood on an outcrop overlooking Cipritine.
He joined them in their silent vigil and gazed out at the utterly ruined scene in front of them.
"Spirits..," he breathed out.
HerzderWelt & CorMundi = Heart of the World
Zwielicht = Twilight
Reißzahn = Fang
