Chapter 34:

Date: June 24th, 2101. A day or so after failing to make Morinth answer for her crimes.

During our debriefing, Samara told us that she was mildly disappointed that we were unable to apprehend Morinth, but she knew that we'd have a plethora of other chances in the future. It was short, calm, and to the point. Really a one sided conversation with a group of aliens.

After she dismissed us, and I had a bit of food, I went to visit Svesa, figuring that we could pick up on our conversation from the day before. When I knocked on her door, she took about thirty seconds to open it, and when she did, she was dressed fairly casually. No armor, just a tank-top that had more of a V-line to it than the ones I saw back on Earth. Her pants were made of a sort of leather-nylon material, but I couldn't place my finger on it. Looked easy to move around in and also fairly comfortable. "Ah- hi Kyle. I was... sleeping." She rubbed her eyes a bit tiredly, covering her mouth in a yawn.

"Aw… I'm sorry for waking you then. Should I come back later?" I turned around to leave, but she shook her head, lazily brushing her hand against my shoulder

"N-no. Don't leave. Come on."

I smiled, gesturing for her to move out of the way. "Glad to hear it." Her demeanor was adorable, all tired and that. Wasn't like what I saw before. Very vulnerable.

She nodded, stepping back from her door so I could step in, and I did. I sat down on the very same crate the last time I talked to her. "Sorry, a bit of a mess in here. What can I uh… What can I do for you?" she asked, blinking a few times as she pulled a rather decorative blanket over her bed, eventually sitting on it with a sigh.

I grabbed onto something of her's, seemingly a bit of fabric, with alien writing engraved into it. "I want to chat a bit. About history, really. I want to know more about you- your culture. What you can tell me, anyways." I shrugged, putting the bit of fabric to the side.

"Well, what do you already know?"

"Not much. You were born on some planet called Prasodetol, and that's about it," I told her, chuckling and leaning back against the wall behind me.

Svesa blinked a few times, crossing her legs and folding her hands in her lap. "That's not a lot. I'll start from the beginning of my people, before the Inusannon," she mused. "My people were native to Trivon. Early nomadic tribes of my people called the world Varlinsta, as that was the name that the gods gave to them. A beautiful world sat in the far reaches of space, far from any relay or element zero. We were nurtured, protected from the outside world by our gods, until the Inusannon came-"

"Hold on, who were your gods?" I stopped her in her tracks, but instead of glaring at me, she seemed… happy that I asked.

"The tribes of my species worshipped a religion called Karshexi-Varlinsta, and many still worship the same league today, including myself. My mother and father brought me up in a household blessed by Aiyi, the goddess of passion, and Praiso, the god of protection," she explained, but continued on. "Though to answer your question, 22 major deities, 41 minor gods, and 14 titans. There are many more monsters and creatures, but explaining all of them and their respective reasons for existing in Karshexi-Varlinsta would take up far too much time. Time that could be better spent sparring, or doing far more- much more interesting things."

I nodded along, actually surprised by much of what Svesa said. "I never took you to be a religious person, but go on, what happened when the Inusannon came to Varlinsta?" I asked, leaning back against the wall, and gazing into Svesa's eyes.

"The details have been lost in time, but legends, stories, and even folk songs exist of their invasion," she solemnly stated. "From my point of view, and from what my parents told me… 'Our skies were blotted out by flying vessels. Vessels battered and broken from years of war. The invaders stopped at nothing to protect themselves, taking our world by force. Originally thought to be demons, we fought against them, life by life thrown away until they made an example of us. Their cannons were highly destructive. All it took was one shot to exterminate a village. War with them ceased, but we were thrown into subjugation, serving as slaves until our numbers grew. The children of our children fought in an uprising, slaughtering millions with improvised weapons. By the time the second war had come to a close, the invaders respected us enough to grant us civil rights, but we always feared retaliation. Numbers greater than ours, technology so much more advanced. They could've wiped us out at any time, but they were merciful, understanding that our primitive species knew only to defend themselves against invaders, just as their people had experienced a similar past.'"

"Have you- have the Sannokar forgiven the Inusannon for all of that?"

She shook her head slowly. "It's been almost 100,000 years since they did that. Since then, we have become equal with the Inusannon, though certain houses, certain sects of our population, still resent the Inusannon for what they did. They make up less than 0.00001% of our population, but they exist nonetheless. All transgressions, for the most part, have been forgiven."

"That's a lot to take in... These songs that you've just mentioned, can you sing them?" I inquired, truly curious about the history. Though, I also wanted to hear Svesa sing.

Raising an eyebrow, Svesa slowly nodded. "I can try, though I certainly didn't become a Pervichalomar through my voice," she warned me.

"Please, I'll only stop you if my ears start bleeding," I joked back.

"Okay…" she trailed off, clearing her throat for just a moment.

I eagerly awaited what she had to sing.

"It has a mind of its own,

Chasing after your long forgotten home.

Paths formed of stone,

Running into the unknown.

Descending from skies above,

Hidden in bunkers following the dawn.

Bring us the bodies until they're gone.

No one escapes their hold,

Fighting desperately against the cold.

Flesh made of stardust,

Stone crumbling to dust."

She stopped herself, locking her eyes upon mine, waiting to hear what I thought of it. "Your voice wasn't as bad as you made it seem. The tune was a bit off, but I suppose I'm just used to music of this galaxy. I thought it was nice- very informative. What surprised me the most was that it both worked in English and your language."

She moved to the edge of her seat, grinning widely. "Really? I took a class on singing before I rose to what I am today. Glad to see it paid off!" she exclaimed, nearly bouncing in her seat. "Also, similarities could exist between our languages, through pure coincidence. The galaxy's a big place, chances are low, but there's still a chance for both English and Mertvalodazyk to intersect."

I quickly tilted my head to the side and shrugged. "It was just new to me, but I liked it. Besides, I can't exactly critique a song that's so old."

"Mhmm. About a hundred millennia have passed since its creation. I think the creators could've used something other than 'dust' at the end, but I'm not well-versed on music."

To change the topic, I glanced down to my side, picking up the same bit of fabric from before, weighing it in my hand. "What does this say? I can't read it for whatever reason."

Svesa moved herself to the edge of her cot-bed, holding her hand out for the bit of fabric. I gave it to her and she smirked. "It's an old trinket called a 'Butkanae,' something that has been passed down to me from generations of high-priests and scribes. Its meaning has changed throughout the generations, but it says, 'Inspiration among many, a worthy leader to hold command in the darkest of days.'" She handed it back to me, smiling lightly.

I couldn't read ancient Sannokar, but I knew the translation now. "Strangely foreshadowing. Does a priest or scribe change the saying, based on what they see in the person?"

Bouncing the fabric between my hands, she watched me idly, her light smile still spread across her face. "Yes! It's a reminder of who we are, and what we become. Only high-priests and high-ranking Sannokar have access to Butkanae," she said, tapping on the bed idly.

She opened her mouth to say something more, but nothing except her breath came out. Her eyes darted back and forth between my face, and the fabric. "Huh. I can understand that. Wonder what they'd say if they made me one..." I wasn't a part of their religion, or even their species, so chances were that there'd be nothing to say.

She didn't say anything for a bit, just idly breathing in and out. The room was silent, only the hum of the ship's drivecore piercing what would be a deafening silence. I didn't try to break the silence, as she seemed content to be looking at me, silently. Honestly, it was a bit creepy. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally nodded with her smirk returning onto her face.

"It'd be entirely possible, provided certain requirements are met. You're alien, you don't worship our gods, have their blessings, but I'm sure that most priests would accept you if they had my word..." she murmured. I handed the bit of fabric back to her, where she placed it back on her nightstand, grinning back at me.

So, Sirius, about the reason you wanted me to talk to her?…

'Right, your prophetic dreams. Go on then, inform her of what's been going on for the last few decades.'

Svesa was staring at me, but not in a creepy way as she was last time. Rather she looked like she was trying to make sense out of something. "Something's troubling you. What is it?"

"Well, I suppose now is a good time to mention it… Every once in a while, I have these weird dreams. I suppose I could call them prophetic, but they happen so far into the future that… Well, I have no proof of them being real," I tried to assure her, saying that anything was possible. "I've had a few dreams about the upcoming Reaper Invasion, but they change each time I've changed something. Before I united the Geth and Quarians, I just saw death. After I did, I saw nuclear warfare. I'm still waiting to see a dream about what'll happen with your federation on the galactic map now."

"Well that's… odd, to say the least. Have you had anything other than the Reapers invading?" she questioned.

I shrugged my shoulders, crossing my legs. "Yeah, I've dreamt about you and I on Earth, specifically a cold region called Alaska. We met a guy there, who drove a truck that was around before I came here."

"Weird… Can I scan you? I want to see if there's any possibility of indoctrination, anything that Sirius would've missed."

"Yeah, sure. What's the harm in it other than the headache?" This time, it was consensual. No surprise mind-scanning, or whatever she called it.

All of the sudden, I was overcome by a headache, the same string of molecules ejecting from Svesa's palm. She underwent a variety of emotions 'scanning' my brain, eventually stopping with a smile. "A pleasure to know that you're not indoctrinated. Congratulations."

"I've not detected any forms of indoctrination, whether it be through Reaper, or the control of the Corrupted. Though I detect ancient technology that was present during the times of the Mertvyykamen Federation." Cygnus popped out of Svesa's wrist-tool, which was mildly different from an omni-tool. Her 'avatar' looked somewhat like a Sannokar, but had Inusynthetic elements blended in.

"Well thank god I'm not indoctrinated, that'd suck," I understated. It'd be absolutely terrible, and I sure as hell didn't want to end up like The Illusive Man.

Svesa shifted in her cot, shaking her head. "I have been recently updated of a new form of tech in development by Ne-Messorem, one of our research subdivisions for finding new ways to counter Reaper technologies. They've been working on a way to reverse indoctrination without outright killing the subject. Bordering on the lines of both being fortunate and unfortunate, they've not had a subject to test on."

I widened my eyes, nearly chuckling at Svesa's statement. I knew of at least a couple of indoctrinated individuals. "There are subjects out there. Tiryn, Ferryn'Artrem vas Moreh, Rigel… If there's a way to reverse indoctrination, then that'll be a serious blow to the Reapers."

She quickly exhaled, nodding in agreement. "Indeed. Tell me more about this Ferryn'Artrem. I presume she's Quarian, but what else?"

"Yeah. Quarian. An old admiral, actually. She attempted to make the Quarian-Geth alliance fail back in the late 2070s, but obviously didn't succeed. I think she was put into a prison cell after it, as she escaped once our fleet of ships ventured out into your space, to contact the Inusannon. No one knows where she is currently, though as a Quarian, I suspect she'll be easier to find than Morinth though."

"I could have some of my ships search for her. If she's actually indoctrinated, then that could be both a very good and bad thing." Svesa hit a few buttons on her wrist-device, bringing up a holographic screen. Seemed to be an extranet search program. "Search for Ferryn'Artrem vas Moreh. Quarian Admiral. Search between Citadel timestamps: 2095-2101. Scan until you've found something, Cygnus."

A flurry of data streamed across Svesa's holographic screen, until Cygnus found something truly special. "I've only scanned 0.0001% of total galactic information, the footage, by pure coincidence, was taken on a planet not far from Rannoch. Dated November 22nd, 2097. Playing it now."

I moved off my crate to sit down by Svesa, looking at her screen so I wouldn't have a mirrored view. On it showed Ferryn in a partial environmental suit, leading two Geth armatures through a passageway on a planet covered in ancient ruins. Her face looked screwed up, in a sense that it didn't even look like a Quarian anymore. Granted, I'd only seen Xen's face, but Ferryn was definitely augmented. She looked like a husk, but more advanced, with her Quarian attributes still on display. The camera only caught a glimpse of what was behind her before the feed was lot. A blurry synthetic body, accompanied by a rather human one.

"Cygnus, where was this recorded?" Svesa asked, neither of us knowing what planet this was on.

"Haestrom. Quarian colony. Suffered an attack from Heretic Geth a few years back, but the URA drove them off. Civilian population saw 2,500 dead, while the colony's military presence saw 350 infantrymen and geth platforms destroyed, total death count in the attack was approximately 2850, in case you were unable to calculate the math yourselves. Damage to Quarian-led fleet was minimal. Heretics sustained heavier losses. A security camera within a ruined URA military base picked it up. It had been bombarded from orbit, but the footage survived with minimal damages."

"I remember Haestrom… In 2185, the star's gonna be affected by a dark matter anomaly. Enough radiation will be emitted to break down kinetic barriers in direct sunlight. I wonder what they were doing there," I murmured, glancing towards Svesa. She looked worried, scared even.

Svesa took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. "Cygnus, order Vozdhim Fleet to deep-scan Haestrom for any abnormalities. If there's any source of Reaper or Corrupted tech, I need it to be destroyed," she said, reaching over and clutching my wrist. She almost cut off the blood flow by how tight it was.

"Hey, calm down," I whispered, patting her on her thigh. "It'll be fine. We'll find Rigel and destroy him once and for all."

She shook her head, removing her grip from my wrist. "I need to get this out of my head. I need a distraction, to be specific. Where's Vodnik?" she asked.

I knew exactly what she wanted now, a spar. I couldn't even take Samara yet. Meanwhile, Svesa was a blank slate. She was a leader among her people, but I didn't know what she was capable of yet. The Sannokar stood up, walking right out of her room. I followed her, simply out of interest for seeing Vodnik either be beaten senseless by Svesa, or the opposite.

Eventually, she found him, loading his rounds into a magazine for his AK-74, being sat on a crate. He wasn't in his armor, which was a rarity nowadays, but understandable considering it wasn't the most comfortable thing. I was right behind her when Vodnik greeted her. "Finally. Are you ready?" he inquired, finishing up loading rounds into his mag, then setting it down onto a nearby crate.

Vodnik would need to upgrade to modern-day tech rather soon. That AK-74, no matter how much he modified it, would not last forever.

"Are you?" Svesa replied, grinning lightly at him. She was overly confident, so much so that it radiated off of her.

Vodnik grunted, then nodded at her. "Aye," he said, standing up. He gestured down the hall, promptly leading her towards the sparring room, which had initially be an auxiliary storage room. I entered it after them, just so I could watch.

"I'm just here to observe," I said, leaning up against one of the walls. "Don't mind me."

Shrugging at me, Vodnik started to prepare himself. I noticed a dagger in his boot, something that Svesa hadn't seen yet. I kept quiet, as I didn't know the extent of the rules that they agreed upon, or if he just hadn't realized that the dagger was still on him.

Svesa took a moment before the fight to look Vodnik over, scanning him with her gaze. Her markings flashed to a maroon hue for just a moment, before resting back into the blazing orange base. The two circled each other. Vodnik blocked his face with his fists, yet Svesa was standing tall, not bothering to block a bit of her body. At least, it didn't seem like it. "I'll give you the benefit of the first strike, Human," she trailed off, adding a little chuckle in afterwards.

A/N: This chapter was a bit shorter than the rest, for relying on character development, and some other things. I'm trying to keep it around 3000 words per chapter as of late.