Chapter 4
The two older T'vaoans break their embrace and turn their attention to me.
The older male studies me for a moment before he chuckles and looks back to mom. "Well… She isn't pointing the gun at me and yelling, so I guess she got her excellent personality from me, eh?"
As my mom proceeded to verbally admonish him, I stood there not quite knowing how to feel.
On the one hand, I was able to finally meet my father. I was finally able to ask him the questions I always wanted to.
However, on the other, his arrival immediately began setting off warning bells in my mind.
Mom always said he couldn't show up because it was dangerous. If he is here now…
"Why are you here?" I asked quietly, stopping the half hearted argument part way through. I gesture to the phantom, which still has bits of tree branches stuck to it from his hasty entry. "You seemed to be in a hurry, so why are you here?"
He blinks a few times, before his feathers ruffle as he shivers. "Oh… yeah, right! Well, I came to warn you two." He turns to mother, and rubs the back of his head, ruffling his large red mane of feathers. "You remember Krith, right?"
"The pirate prince?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Yeah! Him! Anyway, I was smuggling some infusion onto Malurok to sell to him-"
My mother's face immediately morphed into a deep scowl at the mention of infusion. She opened her mouth to say something, but he continued.
"-but when I got there, there was this huge fleet of ships orbiting the planet!" He waved his hands around, gesturing vaguely to the sky. "I made my way onto the planet anyway and tried to do some digging… I like to try and figure out what happens to my competitors and buyers… You know how it goes."
Mom's face suddenly becomes very serious, my mother reaches over and grabs Moruun's arm. "You said you came here to warn us. Warn us about what?"
"Well, it turns out the Ministry of Preservation is starting to crack down on piracy and rebellions. Hard. Like, full invasion and occupation style hard. They put some big shot sangheili warlord named Ripa 'Moramee in charge of the effort, and he's no joke. He's going around putting rebellions and pirate factions down, and he doesn't care who gets in the way. What I saw on Malurok was burned buildings and a dead population… Nothing was left. Considering the settlement has been around far longer than Krith was, I can say most of those people had no idea what hit them."
My mouth falls open in horror and disgust. The Covenant just slaughtered an entire settlement to get to a pirate? All the innocent people…
My father continues before my thoughts could fully comprehend what he just revealed. "I came to warn you two because the city that you live near-"
Several loud, high pitched explosions sounded in the distance, causing my heart to skip a beat. The three of us all turn to look in the direction.
While we couldn't see the city from this angle in the yard, it was a clear sunny day giving us a clear view of what made the sounds. Hovering above the direction where the city was, were seven large bulbous purple ships. Small glowing dots poured out of each in a massive swarm of aircraft, quickly descending below.
"-is a common stop for every pirate clan on their way to Eayn."
Snapping into action, my mother raced back into the house.
Clipping the carbine to my back, I quickly followed behind, frantically searching the house for my frantic mother until I found her in her room, quickly putting her belongings onto a hover cart.
Seeing me in the doorway, she points back to the hallway and yells to me. "Pack up everything we will need for a long journey! Gather your clothes and some food and put them in the ship! Hurry Sohm, we don't have much time!"
Nodding, I made my way into the house, grabbing another hovercart from our many grocery store visits and began to pack as much food onto it as I could. Most of what we had was frozen perishable meats, but thankfully not all. Some smoked and cooked food would last a while without the cold and was promptly thrown onto the pile.
Making my way to my room, I quickly packed some clothes and personal belongings before making my way back outside, I activated the gravity lift and watched as most of my worldly belongings drifted their way into the ship.
Running back into the house, I made my way into the main living room, only to see my father sitting casually on a cushion seemingly without a care in the world.
Growing angry at him, both for never bothering to even contact me or mom, and for destroying the peace we had, I decide to question him.
"Why aren't you helping?! There's an invasion going on outside and you are just sitting there!?"
Looking up to me, he smiles brightly before responding. "So you do have your mother's temper! Bah! I thought you might have inherited some of my rationality."
Tilting my head, I made my way over to him, thoroughly confused. "What do you mean?"
"It will take them almost a full day to occupy the city. Even from the destruction I saw, I know they will probably at the very least try and take as much contraband as they can. With their attention focused over there as they try and hunt down all of the criminals and vagabonds that are easily visible for the time being, we have plenty of time before they begin to try and find all the hidden safe houses scattered around the area.
We are perfectly safe for the moment." He reaches over and pats my arm. "Your mother panics over every small thing sometimes."
His relaxed tone and logical words actually calmed me down a bit. Thinking for a moment, I realized that all my important belongings were already on the ship, and mom was most likely close to being done herself.
Deciding to take advantage of the first moment I had alone with my father in my entire life, I sat down on the cushion next to him. "Where have you been?"
Hurt splashing over his face for a moment, he sighs deeply. He makes eye contact with me for a few seconds before he begins to squirm and breaks it, finding the floor far more interesting. "I'm so sorry Sohm. I couldn't visit you, no matter how much I wanted to. If any of my… associates found out I had a family I cared for, they would immediately try and use the leverage to-"
Shaking my head, I interrupted him. "I know that part. Mom said it would be dangerous if you visited. She also said that you are the reason we never went hungry and had this big house." Reaching over and placing a hand on his armored shoulder, I gave him a reassuring smile. "I forgave you for not being here a long time ago. What I want to know now is what you have been doing." My eyes lit up, barely controlling my excitement.
I know that I should be mad at him for all but abandoning my mother and I to our solitude, but I simply couldn't. My entire life before now was a joy, and I wouldn't redo it for anything. All that stood before me now is where we will go from here, and part of that journey is sitting right in front of me.
His head snapped back up and his eyes met mine, the guilt and sadness I saw in them gone as it made way for disbelief. "You… forgive me?"
Crossing the distance between us, I threw my arms around him and began to nuzzle him affectionately. "The way mom talks about you, you are some kind of righteous bandit scouring the galaxy for adventure!" Breaking the hug, I nudged him playfully, "She never gave me any real details though… other than that time you shoved her down a hill."
"She told you about that huh? Did she mention that once she got back into the hatch, she shot at me and burned a hole in my feathers?" He asked, carefully reaching up to exaggeratedly preen a few out of place quills on his head.
Laughing at his antics, I adjust my position on the cushion, and wait.
My father sat for a moment, his face scrunched up comically before he brightened up and looked at me with a devious gaze. "Let me tell you about how I got my ship, eh?"
I sat up in rapt attention, waiting for him to start the story.
Seeing he has my full attention, he begins. "It all started eighteen solar cycles ago. I had just left my most recent pirate clan, and was trying to make my own name in the galaxy. At the time I still had to hitch a ride on supply runners to get from place to place, which… let me tell you. Not very useful if you want to stay hidden." He shakes his head before he begins to undo his armor, showing me a circular scar on his left shoulder. "When you owe people money, forgetting their name and accidentally trying to catch a ride on their ship isn't the best idea."
Studying the rather gruesome looking wound for a bit, I decide to ask. "Does it hurt?"
Smiling, he leans over to nuzzle me. "You are sweet for asking Sohm, but you don't have to worry about me. It happened a long time ago, and it has healed over fine now." Leaning back, he returns to his story. "Anyway, one day I accidentally hitched a ride to the wrong place, and ended up smack in the middle of High Charity! Bam! Covenant central! Don't tell anyone, but I was scared out of my mind. The Holy City is one place pirates do not go without a plan."
Flattening his mane of feathers down and lifting his arms up, he hides his face poorly behind his hands, only to peek his eyes out and look from side to side in a poor imitation of someone sneaking.
"I was dumped into the middle of a massive crowd of merchant shippers, and I know for a fact that the Covenant records everyone who enters and leaves. My only chance was to blend in perfectly with the crowd but the main problem is I didn't know who would out me."
He pulled his arms away to do another crude imitation, this time he pretended to have a gun in his hand, waving the invisible weapon around frantically.
"Everyone was an enemy! I didn't know who I could trust. Mentally, I began to prepare myself for becoming arrested by the street urchins. It wasn't a very promising point in my life as it was me versus all of them. I had to sneak past the crowd and make my way to the lower districts, but in the end that was only a short term plan. I needed a way off the giant metal mushroom, and for that I needed a base of operations. Someplace I could lay low and assess my options."
I couldn't help but become enraptured by the story. Sitting up, I could feel the excitement of the story as he framed it. Hanging on his next word, I eagerly waited for him to continue, only to nearly fall over at his next words.
"So I ended up crashing at your mom's place and begging her to erase the footage of me arriving." He said, tone completely unapologetic at the abruptness of his words.
I fix him with the most deadpan look I can muster. "Really?"
The older male shrugs unapologetically, "Hey, what can I say? Whatever works right? And considering that was the last time I saw her before she became gravid, I'd say you should thank me for existing instead of questioning my methods."
Quickly introducing my hand to my face, I groan loudly.
"So eventually after holing up in your mother's apartment in the lower districts for a while, I did enough research to find out some stupid San'Shyuum called the Minister of Fortitude broadcasted that he recently bought a personal Lich transport. He was flying it around the city as a sort of break in flight for it. It was at that moment I knew I hit the jackpot. So, when the artificial lighting that replaces the day turned off, I sprinted to where I overheard his ship was."
Returning to his 'storytelling' pose, he waved his arms back and forth in a vague mimicry of running. He quickly noticed that I was not nearly as invested as I was before so he sent a wink in my direction, before making his motions far more exaggerated. He began to look less like he was running, and more like he was flailing around in a large body of water. I couldn't prevent the smile from reaching my face as I shook my head at his antics.
"I arrived at the scene undetected, and snuck myself into a massive private hangar of sorts by crawling through one of the air ducts. The place was filled with everything from ghosts to liches… I even saw a scarab parked in one of the corners! Anyway, after scouting the area out for a few units, I found that the whole place was completely unguarded! The fools obviously had no idea who they were messing with, assuming that one measly shield door was enough to stop me. The only problem was, the shield doors leading to the outside were sealed shut behind a passcode lock on a terminal nearby."
He scrunched his face up, tapping a clawed finger against his muzzle as if thinking about a very difficult question.
"Now, as it was, I was stuck behind an industrial shield door with no way through. I was in a forbidden section of the San'Shyuum upper district and couldn't figure out the passcode to deactivate the shield door quietly. The situation required me to use the utmost stealth, and any wrong move would have the area flooded with prelates and honor guards. Looking around the area, I attempted to find a quiet solution to my dilemma where-"
"You used the scarab to blow the shield door open."
He seemed caught off guard by my interruption, before he sent me a devilish smirk. "Syma told you about this too huh?"
Sending him the biggest smile I could manage before I respond. "No, that's just what I would have done."
His eyes widened comically as he sat there dumbstruck. His smirk morphed into a bright smile. "I'm so proud of you."
Suddenly, the sound of a soft muffled explosion spread through the house. From how quiet it was, I could immediately tell that it was from the city.
We are very far away from the city… If I could hear it from all the way over here, then how big of an explosion was that?
"That isn't a good sign." Moruun urgently stood up before turning and making his way to the door. "We need to move. They wouldn't be bombing the city yet this soon if they cared about supplies."
Quickly making my way outside, I could immediately notice that the ships have spread out over the area, circling over a massive area as a massive plume of smoke was slowly growing from the direction of the city now.
My blood ran cold at the sight, but before I could say anything, my father began to speak in a quiet voice. "This… isn't good."
"What's wrong?"
He remained quiet for a few seconds before pointing in the distance, gesturing to the ships. At first I didn't see anything new, but when I began to look closer, I could see small purple beams of light sprouting out from random points of all the massive spacecraft creating small fireballs that slowly fall back down to the planet below.
"They are shooting down the ships trying to flee." He said, his tone grave before he turned back to me. "Attacking one of the Kig Yar homeworlds will create massive unrest among our population, so I suppose they are trying to prevent anyone from finding out about it."
My breath caught in my throat as I realized that our escape route just became complicated.
My father ran back to the doorway, stopping just short of entering the building before he began to yell. "Syma, we need to go. Now!"
After a few moments, the sound of a hover cart came from inside, my mother making her way out of the door in a hurry, pulling an assortment of random items behind her. However it wasn't what she was pulling that caught my attention.
It was her armor.
I knew my mom was a former Covenant soldier, but knowing that fact and seeing my loving mother garbed in advanced orange armor with advanced technology glowing softly around her prepared for war and armed to the teeth were two separate things.
"Just as terrifying as ever, eh Syma?" My father says from his spot next to the door, barely reacting to her arrival.
Turning her head, her yellow glowing optics meet the sight of us staring at her. Her gaze remains on me for a moment longer, before she turns and quickly makes her way to the ship.
After placing the cart into the gravity lift, she rushes over to me, her limp exaggerated by the metal armor weighing her down. "Come now Sohm, we need to get off this planet."
Moruun made his way over to my distressed mother, concern filling his eyes. "That might be a bit harder than you think, Syma. They are shooting down all of the ships fleeing."
Snapping her head over to look at the lazily floating ships, she examines the situation for only a moment before she gasps. "This is T'avo… they wouldn't do such a-"
"As of right now? Yes they would, and are." Gripping her by the shoulders, he turns her around so she is facing him. "Don't worry, I'm going to get you two out of here. Prep your ship and get ready to go." With his words said, he made his way to his oddly colored phantom.
"Right. Come now Sohm, we are leaving."
I followed my mother to our ship, passing by the small garden forest that surrounded my home for the last time. Slowing down a bit, I realized that I didn't want to leave. This place was where I grew up, learned, and trained for years. It was my home, and every step I made my heart pang with sorrow.
I will come back someday.
Looking up, I realized I was directly below the ship. Stepping into the lift, the feeling of weightlessness overtook me as I entered the main compartment, and the floor sealed below me… Closing me away from the peaceful serenity of my old life, and locking me firmly in this new uncertain galaxy.
Looking over to the cockpit, I saw my mother already seated in the pilots seat, typing away on the datapad. She was talking into the communications terminal, but once she noticed my arrival, she turned to address me. "Sweetling, take a seat and strap in. This might get a little bit bumpy."
The sound of my father's voice rang out through one of the consoles. "Might? We are about to try and rush a Covenant blockade!"
Angrily snarling at the monitors, my mother snaps back. "Oh please, the only reason you don't like it is because I was the one that suggested it first!"
A soft, unintelligible grumbling was heard from the communication terminal before my mother triggered the engines.
The ship lurched forward just as I managed to seat myself in the copilots chair, watching as we gently lifted above the forest canopy.
Immediately, I was greeted with the sight of seven extremely large Covenant ships currently in the middle of a large scale battle with assorted small craft pouring out from the city. The ships have spread out considerably, and one was almost overhead of our house now. A large assortment of ordinance was being traded in both directions, with plasma bolts and energy lances piercing the skyline. Large billowing smoke plumed up from the damaged city below as another torpedo launched from a cruiser fell from the sky and impacted the ground in a large fireball.
It was pure chaos.
I turned to look at my mother alarmed. "We are going to try and rush… that?!"
My father decided he wanted to take advantage of my interruption. "That's what I said!"
Completely ignoring my father, she continues to talk. "The fleet has set up a perimeter already. Our only chance is to use the initial skirmish between the Covenant and the pirates to slip away. If we wait, there will be less targets."
With that said, she gunned the ship causing me to be pressed into my seat. The loud rattle of our assorted belongings came from behind us, causing me to glance back. Thankfully the two carts were secured behind an energy barrier, though if this flight is going to be as bad as I think it will, anything fragile will be completely destroyed in there.
Turning back to the view screen, I realize that both our ship and my father's phantom were skimming extremely close to the canopy of the forest. We were rapidly approaching the city as the sounds of explosions became louder and louder.
"If we are going ahead with this crazy plan of yours, then our end goal is to reach a nearby asteroid. My Lich is hidden nearby and it has enough stealth tech to get us out of this system undetected." My father's voice came through once more. "I'm sending you the coordinates now."
A soft beep sounded from one of the terminals, prompting my mother to press a few buttons on her screen before returning to focus on flying.
The city was directly in front of us now, dense rainforest canopy making way for small buildings on the outskirts of the settlement pass below us. Looking closely I could see thousands of Kig Yar people sprinting in the direction of the forest, trying to flee the chaos.
"Okay, you two need to stick close to me. I know that old rust bucket of yours is fast, but you don't have a weapons system on it like my phantom does."
Suddenly, the ship shakes violently as the sight of a large green circle enters our view before violently exploding. A loud sizzling fills my ears as a bright blue shield encased our ship, causing me to grip my chair tightly. I would have easily been thrown from my seat if it wasn't for the straps holding me in place. Looking up, I see a banshee rapidly approaching from directly in front of us, front mounted weapons glowing menacingly.
Moruun's phantom suddenly pulls out in front of our ship, using his three under mounted turrets to blast the banshee out of the sky. The maroon bolts of energy impacted the small fighter before it burst into blue flames and crashed into a building below.
"My point exactly. At least you have shields eh?"
Ignoring him, my mother began to angle the ship upwards. "Hang on sweetling. This is going to get rough."
Unable to do anything but continue to hang on, I try to prepare myself for what is to come, but I couldn't help but feel terrified.
All around us, the sound of blaster shots and large explosions filled the air as we pushed the ship to the limit. Dodging around large pockets of aircraft, we began to angle closer to one of the massive warships.
Feeling nervous, I decided to speak up. "Why are we going closer to one of them?!"
My father's voice answered me through the console, though I had to struggle to hear him through the chaos. "The ships are evenly spaced out with just enough distance between them to cover any holes. If we try to hit the widest point in the gap, we would have two ships firing at us instead of one. Getting up close and personal means the ship's turrets will have a harder time getting a bead on us."
By all means the argument made sense, but that didn't prevent me from feeling terrified as the massive form of a cruiser quickly gained size in front of me.
Closing in fast, my mother carefully weaves around any spot on the ship which housed an energy lance. The point defense lasers began to target us, but the distance between the ship and us was so close, and our speed was so quick that they couldn't turn fast enough to hit us.
After a moment of terrifying suspense, we skimmed past the ship and began flying toward the nothingness above us.
The moment we passed the cruiser, we began weaving back and forth to avoid oncoming fire from the ship below. My mother's piloting skills managed to allow us to avoid most of the shots, but because there were significantly less ships above the blockade, there was a lot more focused fire, and a few of them made contact causing the ship to shake violently. Thankfully even as the ship was wracked with enemy fire, the shields held strong, allowing us to make slow but steady progress toward safety.
Eventually the blue cloudless sky made way for the blackness of space. The cold silence of space rang all too loudly in my ears when we finally made it out of range of the warships. Worried, I looked for my father's phantom, hoping that he also made it through unharmed.
Seeing the green and yellow aircraft float gently into view after a few moments, relief filled me as I heard his voice come through the radio. "Are you two alright in there?"
Glancing over to my mother, I could see her carefully examining me through her yellow optics, her tense posture relaxing slightly as she saw me whole and well. "Yes, we are fine."
"Good. Let's keep moving before they decide to send a Seraph squad after us, eh?"
Turning the ship, my mother began to follow the coordinates that my father had given us.
As we sped through the blackness of space, I began to look around. Even though I had just been through a massive battle, the bright stars and large misshapen rocks that made up the asteroid field around my home was stunning.
Looking out into the dark blackness of space, I could see thousands upon thousands of stars dotting the blackened nothingness around me. Large patches of light streaked around in patterns as I greedily took in all the sights.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" My mother's voice interrupts my thoughts.
Looking over to the older T'vaoan, who was focusing intently on carefully navigating the many asteroids that littered the space around us.
"How did you…"
She let out another one of her chirping laughs, "I was the same when I first left home. Realizing that the galaxy is so much larger than your small little nest… It's an experience."
Turning my head back to the view screen, I saw two massive asteroids collide in an explosion of dust and rock fragments. Frozen ice encased inside the debris reflected off the sunlight, causing the area around the impact to sparkle brightly.
"Yeah… it is."
After a long few moments of observing the space around me in stunned silence, the sight of an extremely large asteroid filled the view screen.
Slowly approaching the space rock, we touched down near a purple ship which was parked inside of a dark crater big enough to hide it effectively.
Getting up from her seat, my mother started to walk towards a small compartment in the back of the ship. Opening it, she pulled out an oddly shaped black suit. "Sweetling, take one of these. Fit it on as best you can and then press the button on the chest."
I unlatched myself from the copilot's chair and made my way over to her. Grabbing the suit, I realized quickly that this suit was a very interesting piece of clothing to say the least.
Firstly, the outfit was open. It reminded me of a button up shirt with no buttons… and covered my legs. No matter how I tried to put it on, there was always an open side to it. Figuring that this was the best I could do, I pressed the button.
The strange feeling of the suit fitting itself together, then pressing all the air out came over me. Having a suit go from extremely loose to vacuum tight over my clothes over less than a second was a bit unnerving, but thinking about the space suits from my old memories… I'd much rather do this then be a walking fish bowl.
Examining myself, I found that the suit flowed around me fluidly, and didn't restrict my movements at all.
Throughout my examination of the outfit, my mother walked over and handed me a helmet, a matching one over her head. I idly noticed that she didn't put on the black suit, instead keeping her armor on and just replacing the helmet.
"Put that on. We are going to use the Lich's gravity lift to tow this ship with us. Once it is on correctly, you should get a small notification on your visor saying so." And with that she handed me the carbine I had left by the console. "Stay vigilant my young. From now on, there are no walls to protect us."
Nodding, I click the gear into place, seeing the notification flash showing me the suit was ready.
Once I reach down to grab the carbine, the side door to the ship opens, revealing the barren landscape of the asteroid in front of me.
Not even hesitating for a second, my mother bounds carelessly across the low gravity landscape. She actually appeared to be less encumbered by her injury, since there was much less strain on her legs.
Seeing her bounding happily towards the larger ship made me smile a bit as I followed closely behind. Something about the situation of seeing my caring mother act a bit childishly made me feel less like we were just forced from our home and more like this was some kind of grand adventure.
Oh who am I kidding, I just met my long lost father, flew through a space battle, and escaped in an asteroid field. If this isn't an adventure, I don't know what is!
Intending to follow my mother, I left the ship, only to immediately fall flat on my face.
Glaring hatefully at the space dust that covered my helmet, I carefully got up and slowly walked to the Lich. As it turns out, navigating low gravity environments was a lot harder than it looks. Pushing off incorrectly leaves you spinning out of control and landing flat on your face.
Once I reached the ship, I realized I had to jump to get inside, as the entrance was several feet in the air.
Clipping my carbine to my back, thankful that the magnetic holster worked through the suit, I began to try jumping up to it.
Eventually, after a few tries I managed to get my hands on the ledge that leads to the shield door of the larger ship, and pulled myself inside. Immediately the artificial gravity of the ship kicked in, and I ended up doing a poor example of a wave on my way inside, the odd feeling of having two separate gravities affecting me at different points on my body as I slinked in. Looking up from my prone spot on the floor, I saw both of my parents looking at me in amusement.
Seeing my father smirk at me, he walked over and nudged me with his foot. "Having fun down there?"
Groaning, I peel myself off the deck of the ship, deciding to take a quick look around.
The ship itself had a lot less room than I assumed it would from it's size. There was large machinery and pipes bolted around the ship in seemingly random positions cluttering the space, though I reserved my judgement when I saw a ramp leading upwards farther into the ship.
"Like my modifications?"
Seeing that I wasn't the only one looking around the ship in amazement, my mother shakes her head in exasperation. "Only you would bolt a slipspace drive to a Lich, Moruun."
The male seemed offended at the accusation. "Hey! I practically live in this thing! Staying still is dangerous, and anything bigger would require another person to fly!" He walks closer to her, before nuzzling her, causing the two to lose all sense of mock anger. "That offer still stands, you know. Just you… and me, free to explore the galaxy together."
Deciding to remind my father that he was, in fact, a father, I cleared my throat loudly.
The two turn to me and I could see his eyes blink comically, as if he is just now remembering I exist.
Shrugging, he says, "Our trusty minion can stay as well." Earning him a playful swat on the head from mother.
The three of us start laughing, the scene so… normal compared to all the insanity that had just happened. The calm normal scene so relieving to my frayed nerves that I almost didn't notice a slight movement out of the corner of my eye.
Hoping it was nothing, I turned to examine it, only to let out an involuntary gasp when I recognized what I was seeing. I almost didn't see it, but my training back home prepared me for this, and I instantly recognized it.
Active camouflage!
Before I could even think about drawing my weapon, an elite activates his sword and takes a swing at my parents, both of whom drop to the floor at the hiss of the blade's activation.
Standing not even a few feet away from me, was a sangheili spec op, attempting to kill my parents!
Reaching to draw my carbine and take aim, the action was stopped when I was with a swift kick to my stomach from the intruder.
Rolling across the deck, I tumbled out of the shield door. Flying across the low gravity for a long moment, I landed in a dusty heap on the asteroid's surface.
As quick as I could, I got to my feet and began to make my way back to the ship. Traversing the distance hasn't gotten any easier in the last five minutes, and the hectic situation didn't help.
Nerves frayed, it took me almost a full minute to make it back up to the shield door, latching onto the bottom lip on my second jump and pulling myself up, poking my head over the lip leading up to the ship.
Peering through the transparent shield door, I could see the elite facing away from me as he holds my mother to the bulkhead of the ship a few feet off the ground.
As quietly as I could, I pulled myself into the ship through the energy barrier, stopping only when my torso and upper body made it through. Unclipping my carbine, I take aim at the elite.
Only to pause when I realize that the elite still has shields, and that any shot I would make would easily be deflected. I didn't want to fire blindly and just alert him to my presence, so I took the time to think of a plan.
The elite pulls his energy sword back, holding it to where it was clearly visible to my mother. "I will gladly end your pathetic existence, Kig Yar filth! You thought you could hide your heresy from us?"
Realizing I had less than a second to act, I scanned for something, anything that I could use to my advantage.
Time seemed to slow down as he began to swing his sword at my mother in an attempt to decapitate her.
NO!
BAM!
Firing a shot at the only thing on the elite that wasn't shielded, the bright green projectile buried itself into the handle of the sword, causing a small explosion of superheated gas to erupt from it. Yowling in pain from his burnt hand, the elite's armor shined with a bright flash of blue that surrounded his body as his shielding failed from the heat.
Letting out a roar as he stumbled away from the wall, causing my mother to drop to the ground, the elite clutched his hand frantically searching around the ship for who fired the shot, only to lock eyes with me.
Big mistake.
BAM!
The elite's body crumpled to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut, a neat hole directly between his eyes.
Scrambling quickly into the ship, I sprint over to the form of my mother who was clutching her neck, coughing violently.
"Mom! Are you alright?"
After a moment to catch her breath, she nods.
Words could not explain the pure relief I felt at that small gesture, I threw my arms around her and hugged her with everything I had. All the stress and turmoil I felt over this chaotic day coming to a head, causing tears to come to my eyes. As I sat there crying into her neck, she returned the gesture. The two of us just sat there for a moment, needing the comfort of the other.
"I almost lost you." I sniffled out. "I don't know what I would have done without you."
She hugged me a bit tighter, reassuring me that she was here, but there was still one thing plaguing my mind at that moment.
Someone was missing.
"Where's dad?"
She gestured to a limp form laying in the Stairwell leading farther into the ship, my breath caught in my throat once more as I stared at the sprawled form of my father.
Getting up to go see if he was even alive, I was stopped by my mom's hand grabbing my arm. "He's-" She was wracked with another coughing fit, before she regained her bearings and continued, tone a bit softer. "He's just unconscious. It would take a lot more than a headbutt to kill that rock head."
Looking more closely, I could see his chest rise and fall with his breathing.
And then it hit me.
Snapping my head around to stare at the dead sangheili, the realization that I had just killed someone washing over me.
As I stood there staring down at the form of the alien that almost killed my mother, I waited for the feeling of shock or horror to fill me. After a few moments of waiting, all I could feel was relief. Relief that this person couldn't hurt my family anymore.
Slowly, my mother began to stand up before making her way over to a small workbench. She wasted no time before starting to rummage through it.
"Mom? What are you doing?"
"Preventing a future problem." She responded, causing me to become even more confused.
Apparently finding what she was looking for, she pulls out a red rectangular square before making her way over to my unconscious father. Grabbing him by his legs, she drags him over to a corner of the ship before holding the device up and activating it.
A bright blue shield door erupted from the square, effectively blocking any exit and trapping him.
Tilting my head, even more questions being raised, I try to get some answers again. "Why did you lock him in a corner?"
Turning away from the energy field, she smiles at me brightly, "Two reasons. The first and most obvious being that we are going to High Charity, a place I know for a fact he would never willingly go."
Blinking a few times, I nodded my understanding at that. "And the second?"
Seeing my mother turn to me, a deep set frown burnt into her face as she appears to have no remorse at her action whatsoever. "No one calls my ship an old rust bucket."
—Authors Note—
Well, that happened.
This would have been out yesterday, except I'm part of the sad group of people called 'Essential Workers' and still have a job.
Anyway, I don't exactly have an editor for this other than sending it over to a few friends to spot glaring mistakes. If you see any glaring ones, feel free to tell me.
Thank you everyone for the follows and reviews. The positive reaction wasn't something I was really expecting considering this is just an idea I had while editing an unexpected alliance a week ago, and just decided to run with it. (I didn't tell jtf to post that recommendation either, he just did it randomly after I posted chapter 3. Plz don't be mad at me that it wasn't a chapter lol)
As always, read, review, follow and fav!