A/N: Welcome new followers and thank you so much for the support! I've drawn an incomplete Squad Selection Screen with the current crew in here and plan to add to it as the crew grows with OCs! (I'm SeptemberRane on Tumblr) I'm still accepting submissions and am happy to include canon pairing counterparts for them like I have thus far with Prue and Thane and Ryker and Aria (because I love writing romance with canon characters) hope you enjoy the chapter!
The polished new ship functioned and flew like a dream, but discomfort emerged quickly among two members of the sapient people on the ship at the knowledge the crew and pilots were Keepers currently.
Ones that were differently coloured to the usual uniform lime green that had been upgraded for the position long ago and had been dormant for thousands of years. Mercy had utmost confidence in their functionality, but she understood why her two companions took no comfort in her assurances.
Thankfully they hadn't outright refused to board the ship, so she could deal with a few complaints from them. She was also incredibly comforted and hit with a wave of nostalgia to be captaining a ship again, much less the treasured Normandy. It wasn't a surprise to walk among the catwalks of the ship because she'd been overseeing its revival personally. But it still brought her happiness.
A few parts of the ship were barebones, she needed to acquire comfortable seating and furnish entertainment areas and her cabin, which was empty. But the lonely tour made her mind wander to the memories aboard this ship.
Soon enough she found herself in the combat systems room. The fresh memory of him calibrating away at the terminal a tempting whisper in the back of her mind retreating into the dark like a subtle morning wave against the shoreline.
One of the Keepers interacted with the Thannix cannon quietly in the corner of the room while Mercy dragged the pads of her fingers slowly over the edges of the panel before her.
"I didn't think you'd feel like sparring, Commander…"
She withdrew her hands like she'd been burned and vacated the room as quickly as she could without running, any faster and she'd bump into the door before it could automatically open for her. Those memories couldn't be a distraction with such an important mission ahead. The Leviathans weren't going to wait for her to go through all the stages of grief over a break up.
Was it a break up? She didn't know if she could confidently call it one, at least, not a traditional one by any means. Not that she was willing to whip out the Reaper Quantum Computing trick to compare it with all breakup related media on the extranet over it.
Prue on the other hand had found herself in the Life Support room, where she remembered Thane detailing his meditations among the Normandy. Sitting where he sat in a plastic chair, elbows on the table, gaze cast somewhere far away and unfocused.
She envied Drell Solipsism at this moment in time, wishing by sitting where he was she could escape into her memories with him as vividly as if reliving them across space and time. She could recall his soft touch, the verberations of his voice against her carotid when he whispered to her while they embraced. The poetic vocabulary that verbally curled his 'T's and dotted his 'i's.
If she concentrated she could even remember the euphoria kissing him brought to her, his skin cells secreting her lips in a blissful toxin that filled her world with colour and softened her edges. It'd been years… that was a hard pill to swallow, she felt as if she was still on month two, but that month two was going to drag on for the rest of time.
"I miss you…" she whispered secretly to the arid air.
Tiptree was a farming colony on a remote planet in the Attican Traverse, just shy of Council Space. And as such, it was clear the tiny town had become a squatter's den for outcast Reapers. An ironic state given the Reaper War having cleared out most of the human population that occupied the space prior.
But like startled woodland critters the Reaper population gingerly made themselves scarce in their homes as the shiny new Normandy swerved around to land. A stiff and clinical descent lacking the grace and effortlessness that was Joker's brand.
Then the drawbridge dropped Mercy was the first to step onto the landing field, Prue and Ryker flanking her and armed to the teeth.
"Hate Reaper Colonies." Ryker admitted at the dead silence that greeted them, "they're kinda like a rat infestation."
"That should make you feel right at home Mr. Omega." Prue replied, and Ryker looked insulted.
"You're gonna compare the life energy and culturally rich, lawless hub that is Omega to these skeleton towns of aimless decayed freaks shuffling around?" He shook his head. "There's a reason the mercs on Omega whittle the Reaper alienages, everything they saturate gets weighed down, the economical velocity slows to a snail's pace. They don't belong in a semi-functional society without burdening it and turning it into a ghost town, even on Omega of all places."
"Maybe we can save this conversation for another time," Mercy interjected and Ryker held his hands up in surrender.
"Whatever you say, boss, fuck infrastructure am I right?"
"You've been around Aria too long." Prue muttered as a castaway thought as she surveyed the decrepit homes and neglected acres of farmland.
Mercy felt an uncomfortable niggling feeling at Ryker's words. Reapers didn't need to eat, they didn't need credits, they didn't need jobs. And on top of that most of them likely needed therapy to come to terms with their new identity. They were stuck. Were they struggling with the same things she was in her head?
One person stayed outside to greet them, a marauder woman with what looked to be a degraded malfunctioning arm stuck in an awkward, stiff position.
"Hello," her voice warbled and stuttered from vocal tech malfunctions but her body language was peaceful and even gentle.
"Hey there, I'm Commander Venari, of the Normandy." Mercy introduced herself, and the three optic lights on the woman adjusted like camera lenses.
"I know who you are," her tone didn't seem to carry any prejudice, just mild communication, "Mercy. I see you when I… dream…" she attempted to explain, but trailed off at the one try.
"Oh. Do you know why I'm here?"
"Creepy." Ryker uttered and Prue rolled her eyes.
"We could communicate quicker… my hardware is… tired…" Mercy stole a glance to her companions at the suggestion,
"Well, okay, I suppose." She reached to touch the marauder's hand. And the physical exchange of data was instantaneous.
Mercy smiled at the familiar faces in the marauder's memories. And she in return saw why Mercy had come to Tiptree.
"Follow me."
Despite her wear and tear, she walked fairly gracefully, the retro parlour-print, farmer's dress she was wearing fluttering behind her with every stride.
"Fine, follow the creepy zombie then. But if this becomes a firefight; I told you so." Ryker carelessly voiced as he maintained pace.
Prue wanted to shush him, not out of protest; she actually agreed with his distrust. But she was still agitated at him just existing at the moment and potentially distracting her from an ambush with his theatrics.
Mercy cast them a smile meant to be assuring, but even Prue's return stare was unconvinced.
They left the town behind, following an old trader's road fifteen minutes out to a pile of two colony cabins and barn by the woods. And their guide lead them right to the door, pressing on the HUD outside the door to comm the residents inside.
"Jeff, you have visitors."
"Yeah, yeah one second—" the door was unlocked, and Jeff Moreau was mid sentence when it opened, "who've you got for me today Mary—…" his expression loosened as his train of thought derailed violently at the sight before him.
"Commander Venari… of the Normandy…"
"Joker, it's been awhile." Mercy shifted her weight and raised a brow.
"I told you it wasn't my "imagination."" The silky, familiar voice of EDI came from in the cabin behind Jeff. Mercy smiled genuinely, pleased to see an old friend. And hoping Joker would invite her inside.
"Yeah well forgive me for being a little skeptical when you said you heard the Normandy flying down and landing in the ass end of nowhere when as far as I was made aware she was hanging in a museum exhibit like a jigsaw puzzle."
"I'll take that into consideration." EDI's disposition was a pleased one however as her hologram popped up on the nearest coffee table from the door, "hello, Commander."
"EDI! Where's your body?" Mercy took the excuse to mildly weave around Joker into the cabin. And Prue snatched at Ryker's vest when he took a step to follow,
"We'll wait outside." Prue had a little hope that maybe, seeing her old pilot would trigger some of the old Mercy back, as muscle memory, it might not be ideal but she wasn't going to be picky at how she got Mercy to eat her organic soul-awakening veggies.
Ryker didn't seem bothered, until he noticed Mary standing idly on the porch with them. "Mary the Marauder…"
"Tch." Prue smiled briefly, but Mary didn't have any response.
