A Gift from the Ancestors: Book 2

by Gambit84

The effects of John and Tali's decisions are felt across the universe. As the next generation begins their adult lives, a new threat emerges from the depths of space and time. New friends will be found as old relationships are tested The galaxy once again will find itself on the edge of annihilation with a Shepard to lead them to salvation or destruction.

4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

Steam filled the small room reducing visibility down to barely an arm length and covering every surface with condensation. The deck shuddered with another vibration and sounds of pipes groaning under strain echoed throughout the ship. Main lighting was out on this deck and the flickering of the emergency lights caused shadows to leap out at the two figures slowly making their way through the cramped access area.

Fendala's fur was plastered to her body from the damp air and her clothing, a set of utilitarian coveralls, were covered in grease and dirt with rips on the arms and legs from heavy use. A set of well used tools hung from a belt around her waist, their metal components clanking against each other as she walked. Another strap slung over her shoulder carried a bag containing the parts needed to repair the busted pipe. Beside her, Lieutenant Thera, the ships Chief Engineer, was dressed in a similar fashion and carried her own supplies to supplement Fendala's. They were making their way deep into a service tunnel to repair piping that had ruptured. This was not the first time the two LiThar women had made this journey.

Five years had passed since the small group of LiThar resistance fighters had escaped from Akzunatai's fortress. Five long years of space travel through unknown systems across their galaxy before entering dark space on their mission to reach the Milky Way and those beings living in it to warn them of Akzunatai's impending invasion. They needed to find the one called Shepard and quickly.

Their journey had gone relatively smooth for the first couple of years. However, a surprise encounter with a vessel from the target area had led to a brief battle which left them severely crippled. It had been pure chance that had led them to that mysterious vessel. Long distance scans had detected a large, artificial object on an intercept trajectory. It did not register as any known ship from either Akzunatai's forces or those of the Milky Way. It also did not appear to be hostile nor targeting them, just happenstance placing it in their path. They decided to investigate and took their ship in closer. A massive ship greeted them as they moved into visual range. Larger than anything they had seen in Akzunatai's fleet, the vessel one and half kilometers in length, dwarfed their tiny ship and made them feel insignificant.

They tried various hails but the responses they received they could not understand. Scans of the ship did not reveal any life forms abord, but they knew that did not mean it was unmanned. Their scanning technology may be blocked, or the life signs disguised. After several attempts, they identified a docking port and attempted to dock with the massive vessel. That was when things became aggressive. As they drew near, the vessel suddenly came to life, locking its weapons on to them while firing engines to pull away from the smaller craft.

The vessel, the Keelah Si'yah, the Quarian Ark of the Andromeda Missions, was on full auto pilot at this stage in its journey. Captain Qetsi'Olam, the Quarian Captain had ordered the Ark's automated systems to take evasive maneuvers and defensive actions to avoid any hostiles encountered. Unscheduled waking of the Sleepwalker teams was to be avoided so as not to affect resource allotments. The Ark's V.I. engaged the defenses and took evasive measures to move the ship away from the potential threat yet the aliens were persistent. Still sending hails and staying close to the Ark, albeit more cautiously, the threat remained. After several attempts to escape, the V.I. resorted to attacking. The weapons had been locked on to the much smaller vessel since the start and with a command, Keelah Si'yah opened fire.

Aboard the Verna-Litha, the bridge lit up with the flashing glow of the shields igniting as the first shots from the alien vessel impacted their own. The ship vibrated and alarms sounded loud and shrill. All six LiThar were tossed about as the ship was rocked with impact. "Get us away from that ship now!" Commander Mavish screamed over the din of alarms. Tevis, who was piloting the ship, scrambled quickly back into his chair and began to navigate their ship to safety.

A thunderous roar, an explosion of sparks from several consoles and the ship took a sickening roll, the artificial gravity failed and all but Tevis who had strapped himself into his seat, found themselves violently thrown from their feet before slamming into the bulkheads. With the gravity offline, the impacts were not life threatening, but due to the initial inertia, they were still painful. The lights flickered one final time and the ship was plunged into darkness. Smoke filled the room and smell of burned wires reached their sensitive noses.

Fendala looked around as best she could. Fortunately, years in Akzunatai's employ where only torchlight was allowed had sharpened her eyesight in low light environments. Now with only a few emergency lights and the dim glow from Tevis' control panel illuminating the space, she could see clearly the damage where the others still could not. At first glance, aside from the debris floating around them, the bridge appeared to be in fair shape. It was only when she realized what the debris was that fear set in. The broken pieces of materials were formerly the engineering control station. The ship had been designed with all the primary controls on the bridge instead of at individual stations throughout the ship. Where the station used to reside now was a blackened hole in a console with tendrils of wire poking out from the edges of shattered metal and plastics.

"Anyone hurt? Serious or otherwise?" Came the voice of their medical officer Shethra followed by a chorus of noes by the crew except one. Fendala quickly looked around in the dim light till she found the unconscious body of Lieutenant Thera. As the Chief Engineer, she had been at the engineering console when it exploded.

"Thera's hurt!" Fendala called as she pushed off the bulkhead propelling herself towards the unconscious woman. As she wrapped her arms around the injured officer, securing her against the gravity less drift, she began to register the burns to Thera's upper chest and arm. The officer had saved her face at the cost of that arm. Her clothing was shredded with the impacts of hundreds of pieces of shrapnel, but fortunately none of the punctures appeared deep or fatal. Shethra floated up to the two women and began examining, confirming most of what Fendala had suspected. Together they managed to maneuver the engineer to the medical bay and strap her to a bed.

Fendala stayed with Shethra to aid in cleaning up and bandaging Thera and missed much of what followed. Commander Mavish later filled in the details after Thera was awake though still under orders to remain in bed. With the Verna-Litha adrift and disabled, the alien ship had continued to pull away and offered no further hostility. Mavish and their last member, Seflo, had gone below to engineering proper and with Tevis working from the bridge managed to get the artificial gravity reengaged as well as the engines, navigation and various other systems that had been knocked offline.

They had been lucky in that after disabling the smaller vessel the Ark had deemed itself safe and departed. Had the V.I. still felt threatened, it could have easily destroyed them. Of course this was unknown to the six LiThar, as was the fact that the Ark's weapons and aggressive nature were part special design and programming specific to the mission and part a larger problem with a planted virus that would go on to reap greater problems for the multi-race ark. At this time, what the small group of LiThar knew for certain was that they had nearly been destroyed by the first aliens they had encountered. While it went unsaid, they all feared if this was how they would be received at their intended destination.

Over the coming weeks, they came to a decision that their best hope still lay in reaching the Milky Way and the Shepards. They conceded that they may need a better method of communicating. In reviewing the data collected from the encounter with the Ark, they realized that they had been given an answer to their hails, they were simply unable to understand it. Fendala realized that she may be able to solve that problem. She had stolen copies of thousands of Akzunatai's reports, plans and records for what he knew and planned about the Milky Way. Many of those were written in the Alien's languages as he had been attempting to learn them himself. Fendala had seen them often enough but had had no time to teach herself the language. She set herself to task as they realized that communications should have been given higher priority.

Another major change in plans was that they decided to trace back the larger vessels path. Their thinking was that if this was a major travel route, they may encounter another, less hostile ship. It was risky, but they decided it was no riskier than what they had been previously doing, traveling blind in hopes that they find what they are looking for. This may be a bad plan but at least it was a plan in the right direction.

As more time passed, another not unforeseen, but unresolved issue presented itself; how to repair the ship. The damage done to the small vessel was not immediately fatal but could prove so in the long term. Repairs would have to be prioritized due to their limited supplies and lack of available ports. The ship being small and the crew minimal was both a blessing and a curse. A small ship meant that the repairs were easier to manage and took fewer resources. A small crew also meant that fewer consumable resources were needed and being able to easily condense needed space helped in isolating sections of the ship for repairs when needed. On the other side though was a smaller ship meant that they could carry far fewer resources be it spare materials or food and the small crew meant that everyone on board was a critical member. This tight balancing act would define the next two years of their journey, placing strain not only on the ship and its systems but on the physical and mental states of the small team.

The crew would have one stroke of good fortune on their journey. A couple of months after the encounter with the Keelah Si'yah, Tevis announced that he had detected some sort of communications device that appeared to be the same technological specs that had come from the alien vessel. They cautiously approached, continuing to scan both for hostilities and information. Discovering that the object was indeed a communication device of some sort, and that it appeared to be connected to a larger network, they decided to take the risk and sent a message through it. Fendala had not been very successful yet in learning the language, but she did manage to send a couple of words correctly that Captain Verel would eventually receive and would start his future mission; help and talk.

After sending the message, they had no way of knowing if it would be picked up or when a response would come. Deciding the best course of action would be to continue their way, the Verna-Litha departed the comm buoy following the estimated return path of the Keelah Si'yah. The next two years were a rough time for the escaping LiThar. The damage from their brief battle continued to cause ever increasing problems in both the ship and the crew. As material resources began to run low, repairs had to be prioritized with importance on life support, engines and navigation. Comforts were soon suspended and as the journey wore on, even systems such as their artificial gravity were shut down to conserve energy. With the ship moving slower than anticipated, they began to ration food and medicines to conserve what they had. The backup plan in an emergency event had been to place all but two people into cryo-stasis on a rotating basis. With the damage to the power generators, the cryo-chambers were no longer an option as they would be just as apt to kill them as save them. Rationing also meant that they were malnourished, and medicinal restrictions meant slow recoveries. On the day Fendala and Thera were making their way to repair the steam line, Seflo had been severely ill for weeks, and Mavish, who had suffered a broken leg nearly six months earlier, would never have it heal correctly. They all suffered from a lack of proper diet, exhaustion, loss of muscle in zero gravity and mental fatigue.

Another shudder of the catwalk beneath Fendala's feet brought her thoughts back to the present. The utility tunnels were becoming a familiar site, with increasingly frequent trips to the ship's underbelly for repairs. Fendala was no engineer, though over the course of the trip and under the expert teaching of Thera, she was becoming a competent mechanic. Just ahead was the ruptured line, the steam cloud hot and moist filled the space completely. Thera pointed to a valve a few paces further and Fendala immediately began to turn it to close off the system.

"Commander, we found the break." Thera spoke into her comm to the waiting crew on the bridge. "Looks like the forward port thruster exhaust tube ruptured. That would explain why you were losing control in that quarter Tevis."

"Can you fix it Lieutenant?" Came the tired reply of Commander Mavish.

"We can, but it means scrapping more of the hot water lines. I have to have the heavier gauge, insulated piping or we will be in this mess again before long."

"None of us have had a hot shower in months as it is. Do what you have to Chief. We need the engines, or this is all for nothing." Mavish closed his comm and dropped heavily into a chair. The veteran commander was no stranger to the dangerous and difficult, and a mountain of stress and worry on his shoulders was par for the course, but this mission was different. This was likely his people's best chance of ever regaining their freedom from Akzunatai. He and these five people with him had to succeed. To do that, they needed their ship.

Some days he had felt lost. There was little planning of the journey itself beyond set a course and go till they found something. Escaping Akzunatai had been the immediate challenge. This portion had always been acknowledged and set aside. It was the unknown. They had done all they could to investigate traversing dark space from the pilots who had gone before, but they learned very little. None of the spies Akzunatai had sent out had been LiThar. He preferred to keep them within his home galaxy, where he could watch and control them. Unlike the majority of Akzunatai's enslaved races, the LiThar could resist his influences. They were not loyal because of mind control or biological programming as most now were. They served him out of fear and because the LiThar leaders knew that gaining Akzunatai's trust while maintaining their freewill was the only way to one day escape.

Mavish had known there would be problems on the mission. Those were inevitable as any soldier could testify to, it was always just a matter of what form they would take and how severe they would be. So far, they have had a mixed bag on both accounts. His one hope rested in that they had been travelling for five years now and even with the delays due to engine failures, and a host of other issues that caused them to slow, they should be nearing their destination. Encountering that comm buoy had been a boost to the crew's low morale, but that had been two years and many life-threatening repairs ago. They were all tired, hurt and exhausted. They would of course continue, but Mavish was no longer certain if simply continuing would be enough.

Back in the tunnels, Fendala dropped an arm load of pipe fittings on the deck and leaned a section of pipe, longer than her body and nearly as wide in diameter against the bulkhead. Just ahead at the rupture, sparks were flying as Thera used a plasma torch to cut away the damaged exhaust tube. With a loud clang, the mangled chunk of pipe hit the deck, its edges glowing red hot from the cutter. "Were you able to salvage enough material?" Thera asked as she dropped to the deck and pulled the goggles protecting her eyes away to look at Fendala.

"I did. There is not much left to that line though. If we must do this again, we may need to decide which system can go next."

"Damn. I was worried about that. Those repairs to the fuel lines a few days back took more materials than I had originally planned. I meant to run an inventory to confirm what was left, but honestly, I was too tired and afterwards I must have forgot." Thera sighed and lowered her head. "Fendala, after we get this repair made, I want you to go with me and let us make an accounting of what we have onboard that can be salvaged. I don't want us to have a surprise in an emergency."

Fendala agreed and the two women went to work. Several hours later two exhausted LiThar slowly made their way on shuffling feet, too tired to take proper steps, into the crew lounge and collapsed on the couches that lined the sides. Commander Mavish found them both asleep in nearly the same position they had fallen when he came in for his evening rations. A sad smile crossed his face. Reaching into the overhead lockers, he pulled a couple of blankets out and covered the two figures. They were going to report their findings to him with dinner. He saw no reason to wake them for something he could read himself. Picking up a dropped tablet, he dimmed the lights and retreated to his bunk where he mechanically chewed through the ration bar while reading what resources were left on his damaged ship.

Tevis finished entering their coordinates and ship status into his log, a depressing duty to be sure as entry after entry showed deteriorating conditions and slow forward motion. Closing the log, he relaxed into the pilot's chair, the cockpit lights blurring as his eyes closed for a moment. Another day of potential catastrophic failure adverted by cannibalizing parts of the ship. Thirty years he had been flying spaceships, and twenty of those as a test pilot. Life or death was a daily occurrence to someone in his career, but it was normally only his own life on the line. Now he had five others on his ship he was responsible for keeping alive, not to mention the millions of others whose freedom relied on them succeeding. Sure, the Commander may be the figurehead upon who all the praise or blame would fall, but every pilot knew that it was not the commanding officer who was responsible for a ship docking properly or crashing tragically. That rested on the pilots.

This mission was putting all his considerable knowledge to the test. Improvising had become the standards on which they operated as systems failed and resources for proper repairs ran low. Today's emergency barely registered in his mind as a problem as repairs such as those had become all too common, as were the piloting adjustments he had to make to keep them on course and moving forward. Piloting this ship on fewer than optimal number of engines had become second nature.

Tevis felt sleep beginning to nudge at him. Letting out a soft groan, he leaned forward to ensure the auto pilot was functioning as it should so he could walk about and get a drink to ward off exhaustion. As he rose, the long-range scanner let out a beep and lights began to flicker on alerting him that something had been detected. Tevis stared at the normally blank and silent screen above his head. The last time the sensors had detected anything was that comm buoy years ago.

Tevis shook his head, fully awake now and dropped back into his chair. Bringing the computers to full life he began to scroll through the data the sensors were recording. An object with an energy signature had been detected at the outermost limits of their scanning range. With their power levels as low as they were, that distance was not great. The object, ship most likely, was larger than their own vessel though not the overwhelming size of the last. He could not tell much from this distance without more power to the scanners, but he could tell that they had detected them and had altered course to intercept. "Commander Mavish." Tevis spoke after activating the direct comm to the Commander and waiting for acknowledgement. "You need to report to the bridge. We have picked up what appears to be a vessel on long range scanners, and it is on a course to intercept."

Mavish had wasted no time in springing from his bunk after hearing his pilot's words. Slamming his feet back into his boots and grabbing his uniform jacket, he raced through the ship and within minutes was standing behind Tevis reading over the data continuing to come in. Tevis suggested that they could afford to cut power from the engines temporarily to boost the scanners and communications to try to learn more. It was a simple enough procedure that could be revered in seconds if they needed to escape in a hurry. Mavish agreed and soon the screen on which the limited data was scrolling nearly tripled in output. A few minutes more and the screen split to share the space with an image of the approaching vessel.

It was indeed a ship, one in which their own vessel could probably fit if the cargo areas were large enough. There would be no successful escape if they were forced to run. From the size of the engines they could see and the power output they were reading, it was safe to assume that the approaching ship was capable of far more propulsion power than they were in their current state. They had no options but to stand and face what comes.

"Wake the crew Tevis. Battle stations. Have Fendala report to the bridge, we may need her ambassador services at long last." Mavish fell silent and Tevis relayed the orders over the ship's comms. In the crew quarters, Fendala and Thera leapt from the chairs they had fallen asleep in, disoriented and half asleep the women quickly recovered their bearings and upon registering what the pilot was now repeating, they made their way to their stations, Thera to engineering and Fendala to the bridge. Meanwhile in the medical bay, Shethra woke up from his own nap and quickly began to secure his patient, Seflo before prepping the medical equipment for an emergency. His supplies were low, but he would be damned if he lost anyone.

Fendala's feet were heavy as she made her way to the bridge, her sore legs making each step a conscious effort of will. Grabbing a bottle of water from the galley along her way, she took a few deep drinks to help clear the fog from her head. That entire bottle was her ration supply for the day, but if this proved to be the moment they had been waiting for, that that ship headed towards them contained the people they sought, then she would need to be as clear headed as possible to attempt communications. They could not afford another fight. This had to be a peaceful encounter, or they would likely be dead soon and her drinking extra water would not make any difference.

She reached the bridge and came to a halt next to Commander Mavish. He asked if she was alright and ready and she nodded in silent confirmation. She knew that Mavish was aware of how wore out they all were. He was not in any better condition. She quickly reviewed the information scrolling on the screens about the approaching ship, looking for anything she recognized that could indicate who they were about to communicate with. The files they had managed to steal contained a massive amount of information that she and Mavish had combed through over the past few years trying to learn not only the language, but anything that could help them. From what she knew of the vessels they could encounter, this one did not match any in appearance, though energy signatures indicated similarities to the one they had already encountered.

"They are within our comm range Commander." Tevis reported. Mavish nodded and glanced at Fendala who swallowed nervously. Taking another drink of the refreshing water, she nodded her readiness and set the bottle on a nearby console. "Open a channel Tevis." Commander Mavish ordered and the pilot entered a code. A monitor to the right side of Fendala came to life and she was staring at the image of the approaching ship. A tiny inset screen in the upper corner showed her own image back. She gasped at the image. Her fur was dirty and disheveled and the long red mane that ran the length of her body had grown long and was a straggly, frizzed mess of fur sticking out at odd angles and in the glowing light of the monitors, caused her to appear as though in a halo as the light was fractured around the fur. Her clothing was worse, the mechanic jumpsuit was torn and frayed, stained with sweat, grease, blood and other stains that she could only guess at, she made for a horrible ambassador, but a picture-perfect refugee. She supposed that was more accurate to the situation anyway.

Fendala took a steadying breath to help calm her nerves then began to speak in her best attempt at the alien language. "Attention approaching vessel. My name is Fendala of the LiThar aboard the ship Verna-litha. My crew and I need aid. We also carry a message for one called Shepard. We mean you no harm. Please, help us." Fendala fell silent. The monitor indicated the message had been sent. She looked at Mavish who smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder to offer comfort. She had done it. She had made contact and hopefully in a way they could understand. Now all they could do is wait.

Minutes passed, silence filled the room with only the humming of the ship's systems to be heard, the vibrations of the engines transmitted through the decks registered through nerves in her feet and the now familiar scents of unwashed fur mixed with sweat and grime flooded her senses and reassured her that all was well for the moment. Lifting the water bottle for another drink, she realized it was empty. Mavish handed her his own which she tried to refuse, but the Commander gave her a direct stare and her resolve wilted under that gaze. Taking the bottle, she took a small sip and passed it back with her thanks.

They waited. More minutes passed with the only changes being that the two ships continued to get closer together. Fendala's stomach rolled with nervousness. She could see the tension building in Mavish's body as well as Tevis' which did little to calm her own fears. "Commander! Off the port bow. They are here." Both Mavish and Fendala followed the excited pilot's arm to see the rapidly approaching lights of the incoming ship. Standing in a combination of fear and awe, Fendala watched the alien vessel slow, the glow of the engines fading, and come to a stop a few hundred meters away. Lights illuminated words printed across the side of the hull, "New Horizons" she managed to translate to her fellow crew members. Just as Mavish was about to ask what that meant, the comm system began flashing and a beep indicated they had an incoming message.

Mavish looked to Fendala who was already preparing herself and told Tevis to allow the message through. The monitor in front of Fendala again blinked to life though this time she was faced, not with the image of the alien ship but that of an alien species. A blue skinned woman stood opposite Fendala on the screen, a warm, smile on her beautiful face as she gazed back through her own monitor at the LiThar woman. Fendala's heart felt as though it would break at the site of the woman. The light blue pigment of her skin reminded the LiThar of the skies over OniThar, and seeing that color, one that had been longingly absent for five years was an emotional blow Fendala was not ready for. Another shock soon followed as the alien woman began to speak in a clumsy yet understood version of the LiThar language.

"Greetings. My name is Neela Voln. I represent the people of the Milky Way galaxy. We received your message two years ago and have come to greet you. I have someone with me who I think you will want to meet." The blue skin woman stepped aside, and another entered the scene. Far younger than her predecessor, and obviously not of the same species, with light purple tinted skin and dark, virtually black hair framing her face this woman was just as beautiful as the first, but that beauty was not what made Fendala gasp. It was her eyes. Solid white and glowing bright, those eyes captured her attention, but the blue specs that swirled within them was what held her gaze. Dizzying and beautiful at once, Fendala felt as though they could pierce straight through her and see what was in her mind and soul. The locked gaze held till the young alien began to speak. "Greetings. I am Vala Shepard. I believe you have a message for my father."

Fendala's leg began to shake, her vision blurred then turned to black and she collapsed to the deck.

Vala gasped and took an instinctive step towards the monitor, her medical training already in full swing as she watched the alien woman collapse. From the moment they had opened the communications and she saw the woman's face, Vala knew that this person was in pain. She had that same beat down, injured and desperate look that Vala had seen on captives and refugees that she had helped to rescue. This was a person who had been through an endless nightmare and was at last being rescued from it. Shock and stresses were battling within the woman with hope and relief. She had become overwhelmed and passed out. They had to help them. They had to do so fast. If this was the state of the person that ship deemed most fit to communicate, then she feared for the other members.

EDI had informed them that initial scans showed the vessel to be heavily damaged and repairs were rudimentary at best. She could see massive power fluctuations creating dips and spikes across the energy spectrums far outside of normal ranges. Images of the outer hull showed many patches where breaches had been sealed, and they could easily see that less than half of the engines were in use, whether because the rest were offline or being conserved, she did not know, but guessed that even if those engines could be brought online, their power levels were far from sufficient to run them for long. EDI admitted this could all be a ruse, but the patches were real and after seeing the woman on the comm screen, Vala did not believe them to be bluffing.

Vala thought back over their own year on this mission. It had certainly had some challenges, but nothing life threatening or unexpected. Their departure from Rannoch had been tough emotionally for them all, but the journey to the edge of dark space had gone smooth. They had made a quick stop at the array to retrieve the latest in data from the beacons and the stations own scanners, picked up some last-minute equipment and set out for the unknown. It had taken them a few months to reach to the first beacon and routine had become the normal. Wake, exercise, shower, eat, tend to any patients, file medical logs, and then depending on when she wrapped up that work, Vala typically found herself seeking out Angela, Diana, Sam and Neela who were working on understanding and learning the alien language and creating the program for new translator chips. While Vala was not a linguist like Neela and Diana, nor a programmer like Sam and Angela, they had thought it best that Vala was one of the primaries to learn the language. She was the Chief medical officer and if her services got called upon to help these new people, then it would be best if she could communicate with them. Vala had agreed as it did make sense, but she did have her own personal reasons as well.

Angela Thibodaux joined her childhood friend every morning for exercise and breakfast and unless they had watch duty, which usually was scheduled at the same time, they would most likely be found together in the lounge or in Vala's personal quarters watching a vid, playing a game or simply chatting. To Sam, it reminded her of when the girls were little. This is how she and Kris always found them and Tali had always said the same thing. To Vala, she was in paradise.

Vala knew that she had friends and was accepted among her peers and in society in general. It had taken time, years in fact, but her work with the Retrievers had given her confidence and being chosen for her position on this mission had strengthened her and eroded large chunks of lingering doubts about herself. She had turned twenty-seven on their journey and she finally felt like she belonged. Her last remaining major insecurity came in the form of the human woman who was found every morning at breakfast braiding Vala's hair into intricate patterns that framed the Quarian Officer's face while keeping out of the way for her to see and work. Those fifteen minutes Vala sat in the morning, feeling Angela's fingers work their way through her long midnight blue hair were the best times of Vala's life. She would have butterflies in her stomach every day in anticipation. The only thing that brought her more peace were those nights they stayed up late watching a vid and Angela would fall asleep in Vala's bed. Those nights, Vala would turn of the vid and raise the blankets to cover both women, then she would wrap her arms around her friend, hugging her tight, Angela's own arms subconsciously locking around Vala's to hold them in place, before falling asleep. This was Vala's idea of heaven.

To state it simply, Vala loved Angela. She always had and always would. It had taken Vala some time to come to terms with her feelings for her friend as she had, and she had to admit still, worried about losing her if Angela didn't feel the same. Through their teen years and early adulthood, they had dated other people and Vala's heart had always felt torn as she watched Angela with someone else. The first time she saw her kiss another person had felt as though she had been stabbed in the stomach. It made her sick and she had locked herself in her room for a week. Her parents had tried to find out what was wrong, and Angela had come over repeatedly trying to get Vala to talk, not understanding why her friend had gone silent, but Vala remained closeted. Her dad finally got her to come out by teasing her with the smell of her favorite foods. He had cooked for two days straight, filling the house with mouthwatering scents until it became too much for the then fifteen-year-old girl to take. Meekly she opened her door to find her mother sitting on the floor eating a skewer of bacon wrapped shrimp her dad had imported from Earth. Vala sat by her mother and picked up a skewer from the plate in Tali's lap and ate ravenously. Tali never spoke a word to her daughter, not asking questions, no judgements or accusations, just silent support. Vala in turn never told her mother what had upset her so that week, but there was an understanding between them that went beyond words. Vala knew that somehow her mom understood what had happened. Perhaps not all the details, but she knew enough and perhaps understood better than Vala herself.

While not actually satisfied with where things stood, Vala was content at least to not risk jeopardizing what she had and so, the year had gone by in relative happiness. Her study of the alien language continuously improved as did Neela's and Diana's to the point where they felt confident that they could at least communicate with the new people. Sam and Angela had managed to create a new translator microbe that could learn and grow as better understanding of the language was obtained. The entire crew had been implanted with it where it waited dormant until the aliens arrived.

Other aspects of their mission had also progressed well. They had located a dozen of the beacons left by the Ark Keelah Si'yah and had implemented the upgrades to them which only increased the communications systems in a small way but improved the scanning and data transmissions dramatically. Back on the array, the analysts would be able to get useful information in far quicker than previously which would give the council more time to plan and react. If they were about to get invaded, the galaxy now had a realistic chance for an advanced warning.

The ship too had outperformed their expectations. Joker and EDI had put the new ship through her paces every chance they had, running various simulations designed to challenge the engines, shields, stealth systems, scanners and communications. Joker had even begrudgingly admitted that she was better than his beloved Normandy SR3 back home.

There was not a lot to do beyond normal routine duty, but both Verel and Samantha refused to let the crew get too comfortable. Ship wide drills covering any scenario from simple fire to an unexpected attack, loss of power, oxygen and even a few evacuation drills were conducted randomly to keep everyone sharp. Of course, they both believed in keeping a happy crew and had planned for it well. After every successful drill, the crew was rewarded with a celebration during which special reserves of food and drink that both the Admiral and Captain had stocked would be brought out. The celebrations would typically last all night with those unfortunate enough to have duty in the morning suffering from hangovers or at the very least, lack of sleep through most of their watch.

Vala's med bay was relatively quiet and she used the opportunities to teach her assistants all she could. Both people under her direct command human, one male, one female, were younger than she, and on their first assignment. Graduating at the top of their class from the same school Vala herself had attended years earlier, they had been picked for this mission as blank slates. One of Captain Verel's worries had been if medical assistance were to be needed to treat the new aliens, would a traditionally trained medic be able to adapt fast enough to a new species. Of course, they would need the experience for their own people and for the Chief positions, but he had asked during their candidate search, would it perhaps not be best to select young, easily trainable people, ones that their Chief medical officer could train classically, but would offer a fresh new way of looking at a problem.

When Vala had met her assistants, she had at first thought there had been a mistake, but after talking to them as well as Samantha, she saw the wisdom in the idea even if it caused her great anxiety worrying if she were qualified enough, or capable enough, to properly teach them. Those early weeks she had been nervous but dove into teaching with a fierce determination to succeed. She found her students extremely intelligent and eager to learn what she had to teach. Before long, they had developed into colleagues more than teacher and students and Vala soon found herself constantly challenged by their intelligent questions and observations.

Others on the ship were experiencing similar situations. Nelis and Commander Lexandrius had molded together instantly, and their security team was constantly training and running drills in the cargo bay. They had created obstacle courses as well as simulated environments which challenged their soldiers as well as the other crew members who chose to join in. Most did and Angela made a fortune off a young soldier who didn't believe that her mother's arm was synthetic when he challenged someone to beat him at one arm pull-ups. The memory of that day always put a large smile on Angela's face.

Admiral Thibodaux had always been one to integrate with her crew. She had learned from Shepard that building those relationships with the people under your command cost little and gained you everything. She had been told about the small competition being conducted that day and so decided she would join in. No sooner had she entered the hold when this young, green soldier, packing far more muscle than brains stood and called for a challenge to one arm pull-ups. She looked around and saw plenty of smiles but no takers to the kid's challenge. So, she spoke up accepting. She figured he had to know about her arm and would declare that she had to use her real one, but he gladly accepted with no objections. She arched her eyebrow at her daughter who she saw trying not to laugh at what was about to happen, pulled off her uniform jacket and walked to the bars.

Sam had to admit that while the original grafting of the synthetic arm to her shoulder had not gone smoothly, time and medical science had advanced and now, while she was constantly aware of the artificial appendage, unless her shoulders were bare where the scars could still be seen, it was difficult to tell the organic from synthetic. Today, her undershirt completely covered those scars so when Lexandrius called for them to grab the bar, she leapt and latched on tight without anyone seeing her not so secrete secret. The Commander counted down and when he got to one, they both released one arm, hanging only by the other, a second later the contest started. Ten reps went by then twenty and the kid never slowed. Thirty he was wavering, forty desperately struggling and at forty-two, he dropped to the mat. Sam kept going as the kid lay below her staring wide-eyed at the much older woman still going strong as she cleared sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety and one hundred before dropping to stand over him. Mouth hanging open, shock spread across his face and Sam began to laugh. She reached under her shirt and released the arm from the socket, pulling it free from her shoulder to hold in the air. The soldier climbed to his feet and saluted the Admiral all the while his face had gone red with embarrassment.

"Never underestimate an opponent soldier." Samantha spoke. "And pay attention to your intelligence reports. If you had, you would have known about my history and resulting conditions and not allowed me to compete, or at least stipulated that I use my real arm. Above all, listen to your squad mates. Many of them tried to warn you, had you listened, you would not owe my daughter some money right now." Samantha smiled at the young man before adding. "Chin up soldier, you still did extremely well." She gave his shoulder an affectionate squeeze and let him rejoin his friends while she reattached her arm.

Angela was laughing at the entire spectacle and was filled with immense pride for her mother. She had seen her mom go through some dark times of depression over the years regarding that arm and the circumstances surrounding its loss. To see her today embracing it brought a joy to the young woman's heart. That energy carried over the day and a few hours later, another secret was revealed.

Angela, Sam and Vala sat watching the one on one combat matches that had been organized. Nelis had suggested the idea as a way of working off some stress while enjoying friendly competition. The Retrievers had organized these whenever they had time in between missions to great success. Lexandrius had approved as Turians also regularly set up similar matches. The match that day had been dominated by an Asari Commando, Meela Lind, young for her race at only eighty-seven, she had shown exceptional promise as a fighter, but was in desperate need of discipline and guidance.

Meela had lost her family to Sovereigns attack on the Citadel over thirty years previous when the Asari child was in school. She had found herself orphaned and forgotten by governments too busy trying to cover up what everyone knew instead of taking care of their people. Angry and lost, she had taken up with several street gangs on the Citadel before being recruited by the Eclipse Sisters. The Eclipse offer was tempting to the young girl, but before she could accept, Citadel Security executed a raid on the gang's hideout arresting all the Eclipse members and ending Meela's criminal career.

Unable to tie Meela to any of the crimes committed by the Eclipse and finding her listed in the gang's records only as a candidate, they released her back to the streets of the Citadel. A week later, Cerberus attacked the Citadel as part of Councilor Udina's coup attempt. She had been at a food kiosk on the presidium when a pair of Cerberus soldiers entered the plaza and began shooting, scaring the citizenry into hiding and securing the place for occupation. She had reacted on instinct, pulling a family behind the food counter and ushering them and the restaurant's staff into a small room in back away from danger. She then made her way carefully back to the store front and with fear racing throughout her body, hands shaking and sweat beading on her head, she spotted the approaching soldiers and found a dark corner to watch and wait.

The soldiers, going one store at a time to locate and secure the civilians as well as neutralize any C-Sec officers, entered the restaurant where Meela hid. Crouched in a tiny ball behind the last booth, she kept her head down, shoulders shaking with silent, fearful crying until the first stood over her. He spoke, commanding her to get up and come with them. She slowly lifted her head to stare at the armored man, then she sprang.

Knowing that her only chance to take these heavily armed men was to do it by surprise and quickly, she had crouched behind the booth, leg muscles tense and ready to launch her upward. Biotics charged, when the soldier bent to grab her arm, she exploded upward with all the force she could muster, catching the man in his upper chest and rocking him back and away from her. As she cleared the booth, she released her biotics at the other soldier, slamming him into the wall with a powerful force that the bulkhead deformed under the impact. Before the first soldier could recover, she grabbed his gun, wrestling it away to reverse the aim and with a well-placed shot, she dropped the first soldier, turned and fired again to ensure the second stayed down.

Moving quickly, Meela relieved both downed soldiers of their remaining weapons, giving the extras to the other adults in the store before taking up position behind the serving counter where she could keep an eye on the entrance. It was there an Asari C-Sec officer would find the young woman several hours later still protecting a terrified group of strangers in a presidium restaurant. That woman was Neela Voln who recognized the potential in the young woman and using her contacts with the Asari government, she sponsored Meela to go through Asari Commando training.

Meela would spend the next couple of decades pushing herself to be the best, never backing down from a challenge and when she found herself outmatched or defeated, she made sure to learn so she could beat it next time. Her self-imposed standards and drive often made her come across as arrogant, a perfectionist and she found herself shunned and faced with animosity as a result. As this was common among young Asari, her instructors and commanding officers didn't think much on it, but the crew on the New Horizons felt different.

As the hours passed and the tournament began to reach its conclusion, Meela had distinguished herself, defeating all her fellow security squad mates as well as all other crew members who had decided to try. Lexandrius had been about to declare the gloating woman champion when Vala had decided she had seen enough. Rising to her feet she called out her challenge. The gathered crew fell silent and Meela's were wide in shock. Vala had not revealed her power to any of the crew that did not already know. Her reason had not been tied up so much in fear as it had been in the past, but simply she had not had the opportunity to. Now she did.

Pulling off her sweatshirt so that she was clothed only in a t-shirt and work-out pants, Vala rarely wore her uniform boots as she preferred to go barefoot as was natural for most Quarians now that they no longer needed environmental suits, she walked onto the mat and faced her opponent. Meela was rather shocked at what was happening. She had heard that Vala had worked with the retrievers and was a competent fighter, so she had assumed that that had meant she was rated above average, but still, how good was a medical officer at fighting? The retrievers mission reports were largely confidential and the only time they had been together in full dress uniform was at the launch. Meela's mind was racing through that day trying to remember what the medals she had seen decorating the Chief's chest were for.

Around the room, anticipation and disbelief were on most faces now focused solely upon the two women. Exceptions were limited to only a few, Lexandrius who had been made aware of Vala's abilities as had the other senior officers, Samantha was wide eyed with worry, though for Vala or Meela was debatable, Diana who was now filming the match did nothing to hide her excitement and of course Nelis and Angela who were both covering their mouths in an attempt to hide the smiles that threatened to give away Vala's surprise.

Lexandrius squared the girls against each other and with a flick of his hand, the fight was on. Thinking to test the Chief and make the match somewhat entertaining for those watching, Meela moved in fast, but not overwhelming, allowing Vala plenty of chance to block and respond which Vala did easily. Finding that her opponent did have some skill, Meela pressed harder, with more aggressive attacks thrown at faster speeds. Vala continued to easily block and retaliate, a few times even causing Meela to stumble and step back. Meela gave it her all. Leaping into the air with a flying roundhouse kick she advanced on the Quarian, punching, kicking, dancing across the mat to gain the advantage. Vala countered, responding with her own flurry of moves.

Sweat poured from each woman and sprayed across the mat from the tips of their hair as they twisted and spun, ducking and rolling to evade their opponent and gain the advantage. The slapping of skin as their arms and legs contacted each other or the mat itself, the panting gasps of breath and occasional grunts as a fist or foot scored a hit were the only sounds heard in the cargo bay. Those watching were stunned silent as they watched this awe-inspiring show of deadly skill. Limbs moved in a blur of motion as both women tapped into their power to try for the win. A cry from Meela and a sudden twisting of Vala's body and the Asari woman flew across the mat, tucked into a ball, hitting her shoulder and rolling back to her feet. A burst of blue biotic energy flew from her suddenly outstretched hand, racing towards the lone Quarian. Vala took the impact head on, light and energy flared around her as Meela's biotics and Vala's power collided.

Vala had been anticipating Meela's reaction. Since both women had tapped into their power, she knew it was only a matter of time till one of them unleashed it. As she had tossed Meela across the mat, Vala knew it was coming and prepared herself. She threw up a shield, upon which Meela's biotic blast was disbursed in a shower of color and sparkling energy. Reforming the shield, Vala launched a softball sized missile that slammed into the Asari's stomach, folding her in half before dropping the young woman on the mat knocking her breath out and leaving her stunned. Vala had not waited to see if it worked and had launched herself upward and forward, arching over the empty space between her and Meela before landing atop the stunned woman, one leg on either side of her body and a previously hidden knife held against the Asari's throat. Breathing hard, Vala could feel the blood rushing through her body, felt the channeled power coursing through the very fibers of her being, her face was a mask of fierce determination, eyes glowing bright, though narrowed in focus, Meela stared back in a mixture of disbelief, terror and awe.

"Do you yield?" Vala asked the pinned woman below her who nodded in silent acquiescence. Rising from her crouched position she stood, sheathed the knife under her t-shirt, once again hidden from site and offered her hand to Meela, pulling her to her feet. Meela was still taking deep breaths as she tried to replace the air that had been forced from her body, but she was quickly stabilizing and Vala saw that there were no serious injuries.

"What did you do?" Meela managed to get out between breaths. Vala was silent for a moment as she looked around the room. Dozens of eyes watched her closely, with a variety of expressions on each face and all waiting anxiously for an answer. Vala's eyes met Angela's and for a moment the two girls stood facing each other, sharing a secretive communication. Vala questioning and Angela offering encouragement.

"I have a power, an energy within me. I don't have a better name for it. You have all seen it before as it is the same power my parents used years ago on Rannoch to stop Cerberus. Apparently, this power is genetic and passed on to my siblings and I, though I am the only one within whom it strongly manifests. Very few people know about it outside of the family and close friends and for most of my life I tried my hardest to keep it that way. However, my life has changed. We are on a mission of the unknown and I thought it was time to share.

Much like Admiral Thibodaux demonstrated earlier, people hold secrets. This is true no matter how well you think you know someone. The people we will be meeting are complete strangers to us. We know next to nothing about them, their history, their wants or needs. They may be no different than us or so different we cannot comprehend. We must be willing to be open and trusting, yet we must also use caution and expect the unexpected.

As for what you just saw me do, I know you have questions. The best answer I can tell you right now is to think of what I did as a new form of biotics. It is not the same in behavior or source, but it is the best example to compare it with. I honestly don't know a lot more beyond that as my family and I, along with some of the best genetic researchers in the galaxy have been trying to understand it. Currently, our best guess is that it is a formerly dormant gene in the Quarian people. Something that dates to when we were a primitive species and became dormant as we evolved, and science replaced nature."

Vala patiently and politely answered questions and gave demonstrations on some of what she could do, eventually satisfying and putting at ease her shipmates that she was not an unstable explosive waiting to go off or simply crazy. It was a relief to Vala to come clean with the crew or at least as clean as she would openly admit to the general public. A fact that did not go unnoticed by Angela and Sam who pulled her aside afterward.

"You didn't tell them everything. You know more about your power then you told them." Angela started in on her as soon as the doors closed. "I thought you said you were going to tell them everything."

"Angela, go easy on her. She told enough." Sam spoke hushing her daughter, but a look of concern was across her face.

"I know Angie and thank you Sam. I didn't know how to say the rest or if I should just yet. What I told and showed them was the same the Retrievers knew about me also. I have no idea how the galaxy is going to react when they learn that the Quarians, a race of people considered by most to be inferior are not, and not only are they not an inferior species, but they actually have the ability to become powerfully enhanced through their natural bonding rituals, which by the way, will likely get out sooner than later anyway now that we are back on Rannoch and have started to slow down and spend time truly enjoying life and each other rather than just surviving. The Quarians are beginning a new evolution as a species that has the potential to upset the galaxy in a few generations. Now, that currently does not apply to my situation, as I am not bonded to another and my power comes from essentially a god-like being who just happens to inhabit my home world. Neither one of those items seemed like a good thing to bring up today so I went with the simpler explanation; it's just a new form of biotic power."

"That was for the best Vala. I approve of the choice to hold back on those details. I was already nervous about you going forward with revealing your power. I know it is the wise thing to do and the best for everyone, yourself not the least, but the Admiral in me worried for what it might do to the crew. Rumors, fear and superstition can run amok on a starship and we are not able to transfer personnel if things get ugly. I think you handled it well and relieved immediate fears. Time will tell, but I do not sense any trouble from this, though I do wish you would have told me when you were going to do it."

"I'm sorry Sam. I wasn't planning on doing it that way, but I saw the opportunity and took it."

"Probably for the best. I think the live demonstration combined with the crew's pleasure at seeing that braggart knocked on her ass made the better impression than if you had simply spoke at dinner. At the very least, you earned some respect which will hopefully outweigh any fears." Sam yawned and checked the time. "I think I'm going to retire for the night. It has been an eventful day." Sam hugged both Vala and her daughter then departed leaving the younger women to go back to their quarters. Angela accompanied Vala back to the medical bay where Vala's room was located. Saying their goodnights, Vala entered her small corner of privacy.

Stripping off her work out clothes, she plunged into the shower. As the water washed the sweat from her body and soothed sore muscles her mind wandered with questions of, did she do the right thing? To which she would reply yes. Will it change things? Yes. Is that good or bad? We will see. Vala silently argued with herself for a few more minutes until a picture of Angela crossed her mind. Angela standing at the edge of the mat, hands clasped in front of her chest, tense legs upon feet raised on their toes as if to spring to her aid in a moment's notice, brown eyes open wide with excitement and a touch of worry, and her mouth in a wide, warm smile with white teeth flashing from between moist lips… Vala slammed her hand on the controls shutting off the hot water and releasing the cold to pour over her. Crying in shock, her body tensed, and the image of Angela fled her thoughts as she was brought back from her daydream.

"Ugh…" Vala moaned as she stepped from the shower, dried and pulled on her night clothes. Only two things truly scared her, her power and losing Angela. She was coming to terms with her power, today being another large step forward, but Angela, she knew she needed to talk to her. Logically, she knew Angela would never stop being her friend, even if she did not share Vala's feelings. Still, Vala's mind constantly kept her doubting and worried. Crawling into bed, she pulled the covers over her body. This would not be resolved tonight.

Their journey continued onward and the ship's crew continued to bond and become closer. Vala's fears about exposing her power were put to rest as her crew mates accepted her, in fact, most were rather in awe and held her in high esteem. Routine took them through the day to day occasionally interrupted by an injury or minor system malfunction; both easily resolved by the engineering crew or Vala and her young charges. Samantha and her team of scientists and engineers refined their work on the translator microbes and with Neela and Angela working hard on understanding the alien language they felt they were ready for what was to come.

More than a year had passed since their mission began when EDI made the announcement, they had located an approaching vessel. Over a year of living with, working with, and spending time with Angela Thibodaux and Vala had still not said anything. That time had been some of the happiest in her life, and Vala used it as an excuse to not take the leap. She kept saying, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, next time we are alone, only the next time always had an excuse. Now she stood in the C.I.C., staring at the image of an alien, their actual mission unfolding in real life before her eyes. Vala's mind was racing as her medical training made quick scan and observations, diagnosis and treatment plans. Providing aid to these people was her primary and secondary thoughts, however in the back of her mind a tiny voice wept that she may have missed her chance. Next time may be in the past. For a brief second, a sadness washed over her. Snapping away from those thoughts, they couldn't be helped now, Vala began issuing orders despite her superiors standing in the room.

"Get us to that ship Joker. Those people need help. Isolate the medical bay until I can confirm if they carry any contaminants that can harm us. Plenty of food and water from the galley. I don't know what they eat so have the cook break out the nutrient bars, both dextro and amino based. Move quickly, we may not have a lot of time." Vala returned her eyes to the monitor to see what was happening on the other ship. Onscreen, she watched as the alien woman was helped back to her feet, supported by another, the speaker looked back at Vala, questions in her eyes.

"We are here to help you." Vala began speaking in the alien language the best she could. "Our pilot will dock with your ship. I am a doctor. I will take your team to our ship and heal you. Do you understand?" Vala waited until the alien nodded her head and responded yes. "Joker, dock the ship."

Admiral Thibodaux watched from the side as Vala had taken control and the crew responded without hesitation. She was not offended nor upset. While the military had strict chain of command procedures, it was not uncommon for the ranking medical officer to issue orders over her superiors when their expertise was the priority. Some captains and admirals would be furious with having their authority superseded in that fashion, but Samantha felt pride and she knew Captain Verel felt the same. Part of their job was to train the next generation of officers, something Admiral Thibodaux took very seriously.

"Meet us at the docking port." Vala was telling the aliens. "We can provide medical aid to you and your crew." The alien on screen nodded her agreement and the screen went black as communications were terminated. Vala was already on the move, giving orders to her medical team to meet her at the docking port with stretchers and emergency gear. Verel likewise was informing Lexandrius and his team about the developments and ordering a security squad as well as his field medics to assist Vala.

The New Horizons gave a gentle shudder as the docking tube extended and they could hear the hissing of air as the tube sealed against the other ship and pressurized. EDI confirmed that the alien ship carried a nearly identical atmospheric composition so bio suits would not be needed. The assembled crew watched as the indicator lights flicked from red to green as the tube stabilized before the alert buzzer sounded confirming it was safe to open the hatch. Captain Verel entered his command code and the door slid open. One by one, lights illuminated the docking tube, a plain grey, cylindrical tunnel bridging between the two vessels. On the opposite end from where they stood, they could see the battered and scarred hull of the alien vessel.

A series of clicks and additional hissing as the other ship matched pressurizations and the alien hatch slid open. From within emerged four figures, the two in front familiar to the bridge crew as the female who had spoken to them and the other who caught her when she fainted. The other two were strangers, but all had the same weary expressions on their exhausted and weakened frames. The female was leaning heavily on the arm of the older male while the two others followed behind with guns held lowered yet ready to be used. Neela stepped forward from the New Horizons crew and raising her hands palms outward to show she carried no weapons she stood and waited for the approaching aliens to reach her.

"Fendala, I'm Neela Voln, we spoke briefly on the comm." Neela spoke in a calm voice to the approaching LiThar. She extended her arm to indicate Vala who was waiting in the group behind her. "This is our Chief medical officer, Vala Shepard who you also spoke with earlier. You and your crew are welcome to our ship. Please, let us help you to our medical bay where we can provide aid and you can rest. Are there people in need of assistance? We will be glad to help transport them here if you can show us the way."

The LiThar were now within a few paces of the ambassador and Fendala freed herself from Commander Mavish to stand on her own before replying. "Ambassador, I thank you for the welcome." Then pointing out the other three members in turn for introduction continued. "This is Commander Mavish, Lieutenant Thera our Engineer, and Shethra our medical officer. Our pilot Tevis is still in the cockpit coordinating with your own to secure our ship. We have one more member, Seflo, who is very sick. If you would, Shethra will show you where he is."

Shethra stepped forward, handing off his weapon to Thera. Vala turned and pointed to one of her assistants, Seamus O'Connor, and a couple of security people carrying a stretcher to go with the LiThar and retrieve the sick crew member. The four people moved quickly and disappeared into the alien ship. Neela waited for them to depart before continuing.

"Fendala, may we take you to our medical facility? There, Vala and her team can begin to render aid." Fendala nodded in reply and the group made their way to medical. Most of the New Horizon's crew departed as there was no need for heavy security. Aside from Vala and her assistant, only Ambassador Voln and two security guards came with them. The security guards posted outside the entry while the others went inside. Captain Verel and Admiral Thibodaux returned to the C.I.C., there was no need for them to be there at this time. The ambassador and Vala were more than capable on their own and social niceties could wait till they were healed and rested.

Once inside the med bay, Vala showed each LiThar to a bed where they would be examined and treated. Voln waited till all were seated before approaching Fendala again. "Fendala, we have created a device that can translate our languages and allow us to communicate better. It is a microbe that when injected into the body can allow you to understand anyone in any language that it has come across. We designed this based off your message that was sent two years ago. It is designed to learn and improve overtime as a species' vocabulary and context are better understood. Everyone on this ship has one and back on our home worlds, it is common to implant them in newborn children, so they grow and adapt as the child does. This allows all the various species in our galaxy to communicate without having to learn dozens of languages. Would you consent to having one injected?"

Fendala looked at the Asari ambassador for a few minutes, then turned her head to follow the movements of the other two women in the room. Vala was at table preparing data pads for each of the LiThar, while her assistant arranged what Fendala assumed were scanning devices and medicines on a portable workstation. Since they had arrived in the room, both women had worked with fast efficiency, their motions displaying confidence and familiarity with what they were doing. Fendala felt herself begin to relax. She returned her eyes to the ambassador and nodded her acceptance. Communication was crucial to what was to come. They could not afford an error in understanding.

Neela smiled and nodded to Vala who had finished her preparations and had approached the LiThar woman, her assistant at her side with the tray of equipment. Holding up a needle, Vala began to explain what she was going to do. "Fendala, before I attempt any medical examination on your species, I am going to first inject the translator microbe. There will be a slight discomfort when I do this. After I am done, the microbe will begin working within minutes. I will need to ask you some questions about your species at that time so I can treat you properly. If you will relay that information to your medical officer, I would like to inject him next so I can discuss treatment with him."

Fendala agreed and Vala injected the microbe. Shethra consented as well and was injected immediately after. Vala waited a few minutes to allow the microbe to activate and make the connection it needed to function. After the allotted time Vala asked if they could understand her. Both LiThar's faces brightened in surprise as Vala's words were heard in perfect translation of their native tongue and they responded that they could. Neela watched in satisfaction as Vala went to work, asking Shethra questions, scanning and giving orders to her assistant, Katarina, for medicines, testing and reading those reports back to her. A short while later, the door slid open and Seamus entered with the last two LiThar following, one was the pilot, walking with the pained expression of someone inured but trying not to show it and the other unconscious and on the stretcher. Both LiThar were placed on the waiting beds and Vala quickly moved to examine her additional patients.

Over the next several hours, the three doctors of the New Horizons worked hard treating and healing their guests. By the time they were done, only Fendala and the unconscious Seflo remained in the med bay, the others had been shown to guest quarters where they now slept, allowing the medicines to finish the job Vala's team had started. Finishing her last notes, Vala set Seflo's tablet on the bedside stand and turned down the lighting above his bed. He would be fine. They had brought down his fever, gave him medicine to fight off the infections, and placed him into a deep sleep to allow his body time to rest and repair. He would be awake again in about twelve hours and should be good to rejoin his crew in the next few days. Commander Mavish had thanked them repeatedly, as did Shethra with whom Vala had consulted extensively which had made the treatment smoother and earned her respect from the LiThar doctor. In addition to medical aid, all the LiThar had agreed to the translator microbes after seeing the effectiveness in communications between Vala and Shethra.

Vala exhaled a long, slow release of air. Fortunately, none of the injuries had been worse than a few broken bones and minor infections for all but Seflo. His injuries were minor, but infection had spread largely unchecked throughout his body. With Shethra's help, they had created a medicine that seemed to be working in boosting his immune system and clearing the worst of it. He would require days of bed rest but would recover barring something unforeseen. They would all live and resume normal lives, a few scars and pains in their limbs as souvenirs, but considering the harrowing journey they had been through, they made out well.

Looking at the LiThar woman still in the med bay, Vala gave her a smile and motioned for her to follow as she walked past a dividing glass wall to her personal office. There she crossed to a built-in cabinet on the rear wall and from within removed a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. "I don't know if you have alcohol or something close to it, but please, if you would like, have a drink with me. It burns going down but it will relax you and make life feel a little easier for a time. This bottle is a fifty-year-old scotch whiskey from my father, John Shepard's, home world of Earth. I have always carried a bottle with me in memory of him while I am on assignment." Vala poured the drinks before dropping into the chair behind her desk. Holding up the glass in salute to the LiThar, Vala took a sip then closed her eyes and rested her head against the chair back.

A sudden coughing caused her eyes to spring open, but when she saw it was Fendala holding her hand at her throat and the whiskey sloshing in the near-by glass, she quickly guessed what had happened. "I guess I did not give you proper warning." She spoke as Fendala regained her breath. "It is rather strong to those not used to it."

"I'm okay Vala." Fendala replied. "I should have taken a smaller sip as you did warn me it burns." The LiThar woman coughed again and smiled. "It does warm the insides nicely. And I do enjoy the taste. It reminds me of a drink made on the Northern continent of my home. Nutty, made of the land."

"May be similar after all." Vala admitted. My mother prefers sweeter drinks. Lemonade is her favorite. I will have some made up for you one evening and we can share it."

"I look forward to trying that drink as well. May I ask a question? I do not want to offend; I do not know if I am breaking custom." Fendala looked a little worried so Vala put her at ease. "Please, Fendala, do not worry about offending me. Ask away and I will answer what I can. I have questions as well, but as I have just spent the last few hours asking some very personal questions of you and your people, I think it is only fair you get to do the same.

"Thank you. This is rather new for me. Under Akzunatai's rule, we were, discouraged is probably the nicest way of saying it, from talking or sharing much with anyone. You never really knew who the spies were listening for Akzunatai, and sometimes, just the sound of our voice could enrage him and cause injury or death. Even after five years of freedom from him, it still feels strange to openly talk to someone when I want to without fear of displeasing." Seeing the concern in Vala's eyes Fendala fell silent then apologized. "I'm sorry, I wandered off there."

"Nothing to apologize for. I am just beginning to grasp some of the difficulties of your life. I was able to overhear some of it while you and Ambassador Voln were talking, but I was filtering for medical information at the time and therefore I forget most of the rest. Please, what was the question?"

"Are you really the famous John Shepard's daughter? The John Shepard that defeated the Reapers and stopped the cycle of destruction that had been taking place for millennia." Vala slowly nodded in response. "That is truly incredible and that means that you mother must be the Quarian companion Tali'Zorah vas Normandy."

"I am, and she is, though it is just Tali Shepard now. Mom took dad's last name when they wed, though if you ask her, they were bonded long before that day. That it was just a formality, and an opportunity for a celebration. After the war I guess that made sense. Still, I saw the videos and it was a beautiful formality." Vala smiled at the memory and took another sip of scotch. "How do you know so much about us?"

"As I was telling your ambassador earlier, Akzunatai has kept an eye on your galaxy for long time. The Reapers were the product of one of his earliest creations, the Leviathans, who were indirectly tasked with helping him locate and root out his siblings. When the Reapers were defeated, and rumors of the Leviathan's survival reached him, he also learned the names of the victors. They had been in reports over the years from his spies in your galaxy and he would likely have acted before now if not for the time delay in receiving information. Many things change over the years it takes to travel between us and he could not risk stretching himself that thin on rumors alone.

Before I continue, please forgive me the lack of details. I was privileged to a lot more information than most due to my constant, proximity to Akzunatai as head of his house staff, but he was a secretive and cautious person. One of the effective ways he controlled the information in his intelligence reports was to have them written in the language of the people it concerned. By doing that, he could leave the reports on tables without worrying about the defectors reading them. No one other than he on the entire planet could read them. That made our information gathering slow and difficult as at first, what we had was only that which was spoken aloud that we could understand. Slowly, we learned to recognize certain words or phrases and one of those that came up often was Shepard. It took time, but I was able to associate that name with its written form on the reports. I taught a few others that I knew I could trust to do the same. I had a close friend, Mik-la who could write, and it was she who made copies of all reports that had the name Shepard attached to them. It was she who also smuggled those copies to me in an official courier bag the day we fled OniThar. She is likely dead now. At least, I hope that is the worst that happened to her. Akzunatai is not a forgiving or merciful person."

Fendala fell silent and Vala watched as tears fell from the LiThar's eyes. She slowly rose and walked around her desk to hug the woman. Fendala tensed at first contact, but soon relaxed and gave into the comforting embrace. Vala simply stood holding her. Minutes passed as Fendala allowed herself to release years of pent up anguish. Slowly her mind cleared, her muscles relaxed, the tears stopped falling and the two women separated. Vala passed a cloth to Fendala to wipe her face. Grateful, Fendala smiled her thanks and the two women returned to their seats.

"Thank you, Vala." Fendala spoke as she finished wiping the last of the moisture from her face. "I guess I did not realize I had so much held in. Our journey had not allowed for much time to grieve or dwell on the past. It was all what to do next."

"Anytime Fendala. Healing people is what I do. Not all injuries are physical and not all cures are chemical. Sometimes, an open ear and a hug, the comfort of being with someone who cares is all that is needed. My door is always open."

"Thank you. It means a lot to me and will to the others as well I'm sure. I am tired, though I do want to continue our talk. Would it be possible to continue this after I have rested?"

"Of course. It may be best actually to wait and gather everyone together, so you only need to go through it once. I will talk to the Captain and Admiral. Do you need an escort to your quarters?"

"I remember the way. Good night Vala." Fendala left the med bay. Vala remained at her desk a while longer before making one more check on her patient, then going to sleep. It had been a busy day and she had a feeling that the last year was simply a warmup and now, the main event was about to start.

Three days later, all but those essential to ship operations were gathered in the large cargo bay usually used for physical training. Vala had ordered the postponement after seeing just how tired the LiThar were when none had woken after twelve hours of sleep. She informed Captain Verel that they needed a couple of days of rest and replenishment. There was nothing of impending importance that they could not afford to give these people that. Verel agreed. Now it was time. Commander Mavish and Fendala stood ready to speak and the crew of the New Horizons were assembled and ready to hear.

"Good day to you all. My name is Mavish, I am a LiThar and the commander of the Verna-Litha, the vessel tethered to yours. I was once commander of Akzunatai's testing group. We perfected new technology and ship design before it was implemented in his fleet. I was also a resistance fighter within his ranks. Myself, along with many others, including these five here with me, worked patiently from within to find a way to defeat Akzunatai and free our people.

A brief history of our people is simply that we were once a forest dwelling species living on the planet OniThar. Ages ago, Akzunatai invaded our planet, his armies fought ours and we held him off successfully for many years. Akzunatai would not be defeated however, and when he realized he could not win through military conquest, he resorted to destruction. Starting on the Southern continent, he began burning the forests and killing all who the fire didn't. My people did what we could to protect the other species on the planet. We evacuated all we could in secret to the Northern continent where hidden cities below ground could offer protection and safety.

We then went to Akzunatai and made a deal; our servitude for their freedom. In order to stop the destruction of our planet and the slaughter of millions of innocents, we traded their freedom on the Northern continent for our permanent slavery. Akzunatai, recognized the value of having a species like ours to serve him. We are small yes, but strong, intelligent and resourceful. Keep in mind that at this time in history, we were a primitive species, non-space fairing, just the type of vulnerable species Akzunatai preyed upon in those years.

Akzunatai himself was still in the start of his conquests. Yes, he had taken several planets and their species, but they had all either been eliminated or conscripted into his army. He had not yet established a base of operations, nor a non-military arm to run his fledgling empire. We offered him those things and he accepted. Over the ages to follow, we became the force behind the scenes. We made the tools, weapons, ships and other resources to keep his ever-expanding empire alive and growing. Our actions started out as a means of survival, to keep our people and those we swore to protect alive, but over time they changed. Admittedly, some of our people grew content and eventually fully supported Akzunatai, others became complacent, neither approving nor rebelling, just accepting and existing. There are some of us though that resisted. Open rebellion was never an option, this had to be done in secrecy. For generations, the resistance watched and waited for our opportunity. We needed allies, people who could stand up to Akzunatai. Ultimately, we realized that our goals were the same as Akzunatai's, to find his siblings.

When reports began to emerge that one or more may have been in a distant galaxy, we paid attention. Akzunatai created the Leviathans to be his eyes and ears. As you well know, they in turn created the Reapers who began the cycles of destruction in your galaxy. We watched and waited with Akzunatai during those ages as civilizations rose and fell and the evidence that his siblings were influencing events there mounted. Then came the final cycle, the Reapers were defeated by the Shepard and his team, and the siblings were exposed.

Akzunatai's siblings are all beings like him. Born with the creation of the universe in a time beyond our comprehension, they are beings of undocumented abilities. While some became warlike, many became peaceful, inhabiting planets or systems and enhancing biological development. Akzunatai fought them all till he had conquered all he could find, and the rest were forced into hiding. In his quest for domination, finding these hidden siblings was all that mattered and now he believed he had found some.

More years passed, more reports came in from his agents, and we prepared for action. After hundreds of thousands of years, we had a chance, we waited for the moment to act. At last it came one evening. Akzunatai held council and declared war. The generals were given their assignments. It would be years before they were ready and years more to make the journey, which we hoped would provide us the time we needed.

Within hours of that meeting's end, Fendala had sent word through her network, secured the documents that had been painstaking copied over the years and we escaped. Taking a test ship with the latest in technological improvements would give us an edge on our journey while slowing down Akzunatai's own preparations. Our journey took five years, longer than we anticipated due to ill-fated luck with another vessel and continuing problems with our ship as a result. Even so, in order to mount a force large enough for successful invasion of your galaxy, it would have taken Akzunatai this long before he could even start on his journey.

Previously to our departure, the fastest ships in Akzunatai's fleet took a little over four years to make the journey. While we managed to steal the only working model of the improved engine core design that theoretically would shorten that journey by half, the plans and engineers with the knowledge to reproduce it were still there. Even under Akzunatai's threats and non-stop slave driving motivations to move faster, he would need at least two years to build enough cores and another year to fit them to all the ships in the fleet. If he managed to get the entire fleet fitted with the new engines and they departed on a best-case scenario, which would be this year, we should still have about two years to prepare. How long till we can return to your galaxy?"

"Running non-stop at maximum capacity would see us home in just under a year. Normal a few months longer." Replied EDI. "I would recommend a more conservative approach. We need to move fast, but we do not want to end up in the same predicament the Verna-Litha was in. Jeff and I will formulate a plan to maximize our speed without putting us a too great of a risk."

"We can also send warning ahead to our governments. It will still take several months for them to receive the information, but it will give them a head start." Samantha spoke. "Commander, I would like to work with you in sending that message. We have people back home that may know more about Akzunatai and his siblings, as well as some of the spies he has sent. They may be able to gain a better understanding of these documents you copied if we can send them."

"Yes, of course Admiral." The commander replied. "We want to see Akzunatai defeated, not another conquest. Anything we can do to assist we will gladly do. Our information, resources and time are all yours."

"Thank you, Commander Mavish. We will meet later to go over everything and prepare a message. EDI, Jeff, get working on that plan to get us home. I want a report on my desk in eight hours. Lexandrius, have your team assist in clearing room in the cargo bay for the LiThar vessel. EDI tells me it will fit in the main bay. We do not want to leave it behind, and the added weight will affect us less if it is within the ship rather than being towed. Vala, have the LiThar been cleared from your roster?"

"All but Seflo ma'am. I would recommend he remain on bed rest for another couple of days then light duty for a week to regain his strength."

"Very well. Everyone, we have a long journey ahead. Time is against us. We have accomplished half of our mission, now the most critical part lays ahead of us; getting home safely and timely. We are a strong crew, and the addition of the LiThar will strengthen us even more. Dismissed."

The assembled crew broke up, hurrying to their stations while the LiThar met with Lexandrius to arrange for bringing their ship aboard. Vala watched it all with unseeing eyes. She was distracted as her mind was racing with thoughts and emotions. Akzunatai frightened her on a level her shipmates could not comprehend. He was the same type of being from which her powers came from. The same type whose base elements were part of her own genetic make-up, and not just hers, but her siblings as well. Her parents were a part of it, attached to it, bonded to it. What would this mean if they met? What happens if they fight? What if they lose? Vala felt a chill run her body and she suddenly felt lightheaded and her legs gave out.

She never hit the floor as two strong arms suddenly grabbed her and held her until Vala's head cleared allowing her to regain her balance. She registered the feel of those hands, the thick, tough palms and the feel of furry arms against the bare skin on her own arms. Fendala. The LiThar woman had approached Vala to ask about Seflo when she saw the Quarian begin to faint. While Vala was not a big person, most Quarians were lighter on the body mass scale than other species in the galaxy, she still weighed twice as much as the tiny LiThar woman who held her steady, taking Vala's weight in her arms as though she were cradling a small child. Vala's inquisitive mind latched onto this fact as a stabilizing point and within seconds, Vala's thoughts cleared. "Thank you, Fendala. I'm okay now. My nerves must have gotten the better of me for a moment."

"Of course. Glad I was nearby to help. If I may ask, how is Seflo?" Fendala's voice was filled with concern and Vala could sense the woman was concerned. "I heard what you said, I just wanted to make sure there was no lingering issues."

"He is improving constantly and will recover with little lingering effects. Truthfully, he could return to duty now if needed. Fortunately, there is not a pressing need for him to do so which is why I recommended the additional rest. Today we can afford to be a man down. Tomorrow we may not have that luxury. I believe in taking advantages whenever I can."

"I agree and thank you for your care. You and your team have been amazing toward us. All your crew has in fact. Something we will not forget nor take for granted, but it is you, Katarina and Seamus that have given us our health and likely, our lives back. For that alone we owe you a debt and at the very least, our thanks."

"You owe me nothing Fendala. Even if it was not my duty and had I not sworn an oath to help and heal, it is who I am and what is right. Your thanks are welcome however and I will be sure to pass along your gratitude to my team." The two women parted and joined the flurry of activity taking place in the ship.

In short order, the Verna-Litha was brought abord and secured in the main cargo hold. A report of the mission status, the LiThar and what they had learned about Akzunatai and his plans were all compiled and sent to the array station and the waiting citadel council. EDI and Jeff set the course and the New Horizons began its journey home.

The LiThar integrated fast and soon had become as familiar to the Milky Way crew as if they had been there all along. Both crews spent countless hours teaching and learning about each other, sharing technological, biological and societal knowledge with each other, as well as simply becoming friends. The days quickly turned into weeks, then months. They settled into their routines, with downtime filled with many of the same games and competitions they had held during the journey out. The LiThar joined in, providing a surprisingly strong competition that broke a few records and some pride, but did allow for close bonding between the crews. Soon they no longer distinguished themselves as two separate people, but as one.

As the LiThar explained more about Akzunatai, and they studied the reports Fendala had smuggled, the New Horizons leadership were able to shine more light on what they reported and what his plans may be. Akzunatai's information network was vast, perhaps surpassing even the Shadow Broker in terms of scope, if not actual information. He had gained extensive knowledge of the Milky Way forces, politics and civilizations. Perhaps not the most current information, but accurate and informative. If Akzunatai really was bringing his entire empire in a wave of conquest, he held the upper hand in strategic information.

Unfortunately, and much to the LiThar's shame, they simply did not have enough information about Akzunatai's forces. Only a few, such as Commander Mavish were allowed off world and then only for testing purposes and under tight observation. They were not given much freedom to explore and certainly not to ask questions outside their field. Even Fendala, for all her freedoms and closeness to Akzunatai, was not privy to that level of information. She doubted if any beyond Akzunatai and his top military commanders knew the full scope of his forces. What Fendala did know was based mainly from what she had overheard at meetings and educated guessing.

Akzunatai had conquered thousands of worlds over the years, each adding millions more to his ever-growing army. Generations bred and raised to be soldiers. That was all he allowed them to be. Only the LiThar had been spared that fate, becoming servants instead of soldiers and while being a servant gave some of them at least, a more comfortable life than most of his subjects, they were still slaves and regarded by Akzunatai only as tools, useful until they no longer were. In his neglect, they would find strength.

The military had rigid, unyielding commanders. People whose only way of advancing was through Akzunatai's good graces and the only way to be in his good graces was through victory. This forced those who sought power to become lesser versions of Akzunatai himself; tyrannical, strict and unforgiving. For the slaves, their advancements came from their fellow LiThar. Akzunatai never paid them much attention unless he didn't like something they had done. He did not care how they organized or who did what nor how, just that it got done and to his satisfaction. Self-preservation was the driving factor of day-to-day life, and while this did lead some LiThar to turn against their peers to survive, most did what they could to make the best of their lot. This allowed the resistance to not only survive for generations but thrive. Now, a handful of those former slaves, Akzunatai's insignificant servants, were forefront in the fight to defeat him.

Vala was impressed with the LiThar. Not just on their ability to survive, but in how they held hope for the future. Hope alone had sustained their people for millennia when they easily could have given up, died out or become more like their captor. Instead, every generation carried on the hope of the previous. They saw their lives not just as individuals but as a greater whole. Vala could think of only the Geth in those terms, but that was not a fair comparison. The Geth, synthetic constructs designed to work together could not begin to compare to an entire civilization of free-willed individuals sacrificing first, their entire race to save as many as they could and then continuing that sacrifice when they could have turned selfish and done different. The only other person she could think of that had made sacrifices of that nature was her father, and then both her mom and dad later. She had shivered at the realization that she was walking a very similar path herself.

It was early one morning when Angela and Fendala entered Vala's office. The determination on Angela's face was in stark contrast to the worry on Fendala's. "We need to talk." Angela's tone left no room for debate. It was a lesson Vala had learned as a child and had been reminded of a few times on this mission. Pressing the comm, Vala told Seamus that he was to join Katarina on the night shift, she would handle daily duties. Seamus happily thanked her before leaving. He and Katarina had developed a very close relationship and with the arrival of the LiThar medic Shethra to even out the duty roster, Vala allowed them to have the same shift often. Waiting till the med bay door closed behind the departing medic, Vala leaned back in her chair and looking Angela in the eyes asked what was going on.

"You need to talk to Fendala about your powers and your connection through your parents to Rannoch." Angela spat the words out as if she were accusing Vala of something. Vala was stunned at the bluntness of Angela's statement, but before she could respond Fendala spoke up.

"Vala, we don't mean to upset you. I overheard some of the others talking about what you did to that soldier during a competition and I asked Angela about it. She told me that your powers were something you inherited from your parents and that they got them through a sacrifice of sorts and a partnership with your home planet? I did not fully understand what all she said, but she mentioned Rannoch and that name I know." Vala's eyebrows raised inquisitively at that and Fendala continued.

"Rannoch was a name mentioned by Akzunatai for one of his siblings. It is one of his primary targets in this war and if you and your family have a connection to this being, if it is indeed more than just a coincidence in names, you are in the direct path of danger." Fendala fell silent and Vala looked from her to Angela, who was watching back with a look of worry on her face. Angela rarely showed fear or worry. Mischief and excitement were more her normal expressions. Seeing her this way made Vala take the LiThar woman far more seriously than she normally would.

"Very well Fendala, I will listen to what you have to say. I admit, we do not know much about the source of this power, but I will share with you what I know, and perhaps it will make sense to you." Vala proceeded to tell the story as she had been told from her parents. The Reaper War, her dad's sacrifice, and return and what he had been told from her grandfather in the afterlife. She told them of her childhood, the attack in the park in London and the awakening of the power within her and her siblings. She told all she could of what it did, how it worked and the connections she could feel between not just her family, but through others. The same connections she used to help her heal people. She told the story of her parent's second sacrifice to stop Cerberus on Rannoch, and the resulting strengthening of the power as a result. She told of how she had struggled and failed, practiced and triumphed, her fears and understandings, the revelations to not only other people but to herself.

Fendala listened to Vala speak, her language moving her, both from the words and body language. She could see that this was a tough subject for her and was glad she had gone to Angela first and that she was here now. Angela had sat down beside Vala and along the way had wrapped an arm around her in support. She now held her friend tight against her body in comfort while Vala finished her story.

"Thank you for sharing that with me Vala." Fendala began after a few moments had passed. "I think I may be able to help some in understanding where those powers come from. As you know, the LiThar have been slaves to Akzunatai for many ages. During that time, many of our positions as slaves had become hereditary, as we were kept under close watch as well as taught by our parents, so what they knew is what we learned.

I am no exception as I learned directly from my mother and helped her in her duties as soon as I was old enough. My family has been the head of Akzunatai's servants for generations beyond count, though that tradition will end with me as I never had children." Fendala's voice faded as her thoughts turned inward. Why had she not had children? She had had opportunity, and there had been plenty of available partners, she supposed it just hadn't happened, but was it too late? Did she miss her chance? Now was not the time to lose herself in these thoughts. She would deal with them later. There was much more at stake than potential children she may have one day.

"I'm sorry, I became distracted for a moment." She apologized before resuming her tale. "This story goes back several generations to my grandmother's grandmother, Adalla. From what I have been taught through the intervening generations is that Adalla was extremely empathic and because of this, she grew closer to Akzunatai than any other before or since. She became his confidant, someone he could share thoughts and concerns and he opened to her, sharing his life, his past and his goals for the future. For a few short years of his existence, we believe he found a modicum of peace with Adalla.

He told Adalla many things, but what always stood out to her was that he too was lost and searching for answers to many of the same questions we asked; who are we, where do we come from and is there a deeper meaning to life? He knew no more than any of us about the origin of his species, only that they had a beginning. He told her about how he and his siblings awoke during universal creation. All around them an explosion of life. It was beautiful. They discovered that they had the power to create and influence life on these newly formed worlds. They could physically shape creation and guide it as they saw fit. This soon led to their eventual splitting as they had different ideas as to what purpose they served in this creation.

As each of the siblings attempted to sway the others to their way of thinking, wars broke out between them. Attempting to gain the upper hand, many such as Akzunatai turned to using their creations to fight while others hid themselves and by infusing their essence into a planet upon which they could raise a civilization, increased their power. This is what beings such as Rannoch and Earth did.

While searching for ways to gain the upper hand or just to stay safely hidden, they discovered that their power did in fact have limits. In order to extend influence beyond those limits, they needed to share their power, duplicate it in the form of offspring. This proved more challenging than they thought. Their species cannot procreate as we know it. They can only do so through proxies. In order to reproduce a true being of their species, they must be willing to first divide and share their power with another being not of their race. That being can then give birth through the normal mean of their species. This does not guarantee success. Not all species can survive the power sharing, most would be destroyed. It would take creatures of exceptional strength and fortitude to be able to do this. Also, the new child would have to be accepting of the power. For most, it would scare them, or possibly destroy them. These factors alone made the option of reproduction nearly impossible, but the biggest obstacle to Akzunatai was in his own sacrifice.

As I said, for them to reproduce, they must first share their power with the candidate parent for the power to take root in the offspring. This process can take years with little to guarantee success. During that time, the source, in this case Akzunatai would become weakened and forced to rely on the creature he is linked with for protection. Akzunatai would never allow himself to be weakened in that manner and relying on others was not something he entertained in the slightest. He had attempted it before, an alliance with one of his brothers. It failed and he ended up killing that brother and destroying all his brother's people. Never again would he do that to himself.

Yet, the idea of creating a direct offspring would not leave him. His reasoning had little to do with legacy or parental urges than it did in multiplying his power. Akzunatai believed that if he could create this offspring and bring it to full power maturity, he could also control it and wield it as an extension of his own being.

He told all of this to Adalla and then asked her to let him try with her. Akzunatai was growing desperate to try his theories, and Adalla had proven herself not only loyal in the way a slave should be, but loyal to the point he could almost imagine trust. He reasoned that she was simply a servant, not a commander of troops, nor a governing person. She was no one and therefore would pose little threat and be easy to control. Adalla accepted, linking with him and the power and months later gave birth to triplets, a boy and two girls.

When the children came of age, Akzunatai was defeated. None of them had bonded with the power, the experiment was a failure. Akzunatai lashed out and killed Adalla in his anger though he let her children live seeing no threat in them since the power did not take. Nothing more would he say on the subject until many years later when he would sense a change in the power.

This is when your story Vala makes what I witnessed more sensible. Several years ago, Akzunatai became disturbed, anxious and his obsession with your galaxy increased tenfold. He kept saying things along the lines of, he could feel the power changing and he could feel his siblings trying to do what he could not. From what you have told me, this must have been the start of Rannoch's plan to link to your father. When Earth joined him, the combined power flows sent waves through whatever pool their power resides in and alerted Akzunatai. Years later, it happened again and this time Akzunatai was outraged. I suspect this is when your father bound himself to Rannoch. Over the following years as reports reached him about your parents and eventually their children, he turned fanatical until something pushed him to declare war on your galaxy. I believe that is when your parents returned to Rannoch. As you said, from then they were both completely marked as Rannoch's guardians and that was also when your own power surged, and you began to rapidly develop and expand your connection to it. I do not know if this is all true, or if I fully understand everything, but the pieces are starting to fit."

Fendala fell silent, watching Vala's reaction to what she had said. The young woman had listened intensely, never interrupting, but Fendala had seen the questions playing in the expressions on the young woman's face. Beside her, Angela's face was also an open book of emotional distress, though not from shock as she had already heard this story, but from concern over Vala. Fendala had watched as every pained or troubling expression that crossed Vala's face was met with one of worry and concern on Angela's.

"I don't know what to say." Vala began after a few minutes of silence had passed. "Thank you, Fendala for telling me this. It does help I think, but it also raises a lot of questions that I fear I may not get answers to till I get home, if even then. I am going to need some time with this. Can I talk to you more about it later?"

"Of course, Vala." Fendala replied. "Take the time you need. I will be here and will try to help you anyway I can. Maybe there is something I know that matters and I just don't see it yet." She stood up and turned towards the door to leave when Vala stopped her.

"Fendala, wait." Vala rose from her seat and moved quickly to hug the small LiThar. "Thank you, I mean it. I'm shaken now, but I also have some answers or at least a better understanding than what I did an hour ago. It means a lot to me that you told me these things, and if I find a way to repay you for all you have sacrificed to bring me this information, even though that was not your original intent, I will do so."

Vala released the hug and Fendala nodded then departed. Vala turned back towards Angela when suddenly the ship's alarms began to sound followed by Captain Verel's voice. "Attention ship! Battle Stations. We are under attack. I repeat we are under attack. Report to your stations immediately. Fendala, Mavish, please report to the C.I.C." Vala and Angela were both out the door before the call had finished. Fendala's revelations would have to wait.

The control room of the Array was dark and quiet. Only a few monitors were on showing the station's status as well as a list of relays and their status. It was late in the watch cycle, most of the assigned staff off duty and asleep. Only a few others would be at their posts throughout the station. Lieutenant Verg Nolum lounged back in his chair reading through a breeding contract for one of his daughters and a member of the Salarian government. He hated negotiating these things, but since becoming head of his family the duty fell to him. The match was a good one and the contract solid, a few minor points to work out, but he could see this being resolved in another day or two at most. Dalla, his daughter would be happy. She had been wanting children since she was a child and had spent considerable effort into finding a mate. This had made Verg's job easier as both parties were highly agreeable making most of the contract work merely a formality. He finished typing his notes and sent it back for review and approvals. Setting the tablet down, he leaned back in his chair and was about to close his eyes when a light on the monitor at his station began to blink.

Verg leaned forward and accepted the message. The screen began to fill with text as the computers decoded the data. Eyes widening with each line he read, Verg punched in a series of commands and the control room began to light up and come alive. Monitors previously on standby now glowed and computers hummed while the overhead lights flickered to life and the large monitors on the bulkhead at the front of the room began to display the information he was seeing on his personal monitor. Verg activated his comm to wake his commanding officer. It was what they had feared. War was coming.

Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. Life has taken some strange turns lately and that has impacted writing time. I am still actively working on the story and will continue to update though right now, I am not certain of the time between chapters. Things are changing daily.