To think this all started with Lending a Three-Fingered Hand! That was just supposed to be a oneshot, but it's grown into a fanfic revolving around hybrid characters. This chapter revolves around a character with a very unlikely hybridization: Human/Batarian. Read and review. Hope you enjoy!
-Chapter 3: Toxic Paradise-
It had seemed so simple: Move in on the planet and establish a presence large enough to dissuade any would-be competitors. There were many, considering the planet. Although it had been discovered only two years before, Zilnyke was of intense interest to people of many businesses: Zilnyke had large amounts of iron and tin, as well as impressive concentrations of titanium and iridium. On top of this, Zilnyke was very temperate, only a few degrees colder than Earth, making it a top choice for colonization. Exo-Geni was intent on getting there first, and so, had sent a single ship with a crew of 100 to make a settlement. However, the ship had been cheaply built and in space, and was unsuited for planetary excursions. Thus, it was no surprise to anyone when the ship, the Graf Spee, was sent reeling toward Zilnyke. Captain Jean Petros was killed in the impact, and to their horror, the survivors, numbering 50, soon realized that the equipment that would allow them to rapidly set up a settlement had been destroyed in the impact. "What are we going to do?!" One of the would-be female colonists screamed loudly.
"Shut up and I'll tell you," the acting leader, a human/Batarian by the name of Darius Kref'kagoh snapped, causing the panicking woman to quickly fall quiet. The other colonists looked at him, some with fear and some with hope. No one knew what to expect from him. He hadn't said much before, and none of them were enthusiastic to talk to someone who was part Batarian. "Right now, we need to concentrate on making sure we have living quarters while we await rescue."
"It ain't gonna come," one of the colonists rebutted. "I'm pretty sure the emergency beacon was fried in the crash."
Darius shrugged. "So? We'll figure out how to repair it once we get some tents up," he said bluntly. "We need shelter if we're going to last any stretch of time on this rock." He sighed and added, "I don't know how long we're going to be on this planet, or if we will be able to signal for help, but right now, we need to get something over our heads if we want to live." The colonists stood there, still stunned from the impact. "GO!" Darius snapped, and the colonists immediately started grabbing what they could and make crude tents out of metal and cloth fragments. Almost immediately, Darius noticed that some of the colonists were doing nothing, but instead seemed to be talking amongst themselves. "Why are you just standing there?" He asked bluntly.
"Well," a well-tanned woman said, "we were thinking that we should try and make an inventory of what food we have. We don't know if the plants here are edible, and I'd sure like to know how long we have before we have to consider eating the stuff that grows here."
Darius nodded. "Think you can handle that?" He asked.
"Me?" The woman asked.
"You suggested it," Darius replied with a shrug.
The woman nodded. "Yeah, I can handle it. Name's Natalie, by the way," she said, nervously extending her hand.
"Darius Kref'kagoh," Darius said as he shook her hand. "I want a report on our food ration situation by the end of the day. Get to it!"
"Yes, sir!" Natalie said, snappily saluting the human/Batarian. "Also, if you want to talk to someone about engineering, talk to Jenkins," she added, gesturing to a black man who was working on a solar panel.
"Thank you," Darius said as he walked over to Jenkins. "I'm told you know about engineering," he said.
"I'm no Quarian, but I know my stuff," Jenkins said as he looked up at the human/Batarian, not sure what pair of eyes to look at.
Darius chuckled. "Look at my lower eyes," he said, familiar with such confusion. "It's easier on the neck. Now, do you know anything about repairing beacons?"
Jenkins shook his head. "No, I don't, but I know a couple guys who do," he replied. "I just need a few minutes to get them together."
"You've got an hour," Darius replied as he turned back to coordinating the effort to establish the makeshift camp.
-One Hour Later-
Darius looked at the four engineers standing in front of the wrecked emergency beacon, which had been salvaged from the wreckage. "I do not know what state our emergency beacon is in," he started, "but we need to repair it and get it transmitting as soon as possible. Otherwise, we won't last."
"The beacon's partially fried," a girl named Liana said, "but I can replace the fried parts easily."
"Once Jenkins gets some of those solar panels up and working, I'll be able to connect some wires to the beacon so we can charge its power cells," a mechanic by the name of Gary added. "We'll be able to put that beacon to use within a week, I think."
Darius nodded. "This needs to be your top priority right now," he told the engineers. "I'll make sure your tents are built, but if that beacon isn't functioning, none of us are leaving. I want a progress report two days from tomorrow!"
"Yes, sir!" The engineering team said before turning to start repairs on the beacon.
-Two Days Later-
Darius looked at the datapad in his hands. The beacon repairs were proceeding at a healthy pace, and would be completed within four days. There was no shortage of wires that could be used to connect the depleted beacon to the four solar panels that had been set aside for that exact purpose. Other news was not so rosy. The small group only had food rations for a month, and the plants surrounding their camp were dextro-amino plants, so they were completely inedible to everyone. Darius scrolled down further, and saw an intriguing note that read as follows: "Despite the dextro-amino plants surrounding them, the varren we have seen roaming near our camp do not possess dextro-amino meat, no doubt avoiding the dextro-amino acids by having their prey, pyjaks of some kind, undertake the digestion process. I suggest that we consider utilizing the local varren as a potential food source to allow us to supplement our food ration diet, which, at our current rate of consumption, will run out within two months. -Gavin" Darius looked at the rest of the updates on the datapad. The colony's situation was certainly rough, but far from dire. "Natalie," Darius said as the woman walked into the modest tent.
"Darius," Natalie said curtly. "I hope that datapad has good news."
Darius nodded. "The varren wandering near our campsite, according to Gavin," he said while pointing at the datapad, "should help us supplement our food rations. Their meat isn't dextro-amino, despite the plants being that, so we at least have a food source to turn to when our food rations run out in two months."
"And how do we know it won't have a negative effect on the people?" Natalie asked.
"I'll have some, myself," Darius said, to Natalie's shock. "I'm half human, so I should be the perfect test subject. If I suffer no ill effects over the course of -let's say, five days-, then we'll know that the varren meat is something that can be integrated into our diet. If I do suffer, then our situation may be direr than previously anticipated," he added grimly. That night, he cooked himself some meat from a varren that had been killed less than an hour prior, to ensure freshness. To everyone's relief, Darius suffered no ill effects, aside from a mild case of gas, which proceeded to amuse many of the colonists.
-One Week Later-
Darius was surveying a map drawn up by an industrious villager by the name of Tavos. The map noted possible metal deposits, which were of little use to the colonists at the moment, as well as varren hunting routes, which were of greater use. Gavin had estimated that the introduction of varren meat meant that the food would run out in three months instead of two, which gave the colonists more wiggle room in terms of time, wiggle room they did not need, as it turned out. Darius could hear some commotion outside his tent, and when he pulled the flap aside, he could see an Alliance landing vessel landing nearby. He couldn't believe his eyes. An Alliance vessel? What business did they have that would bring them out here? A human with short black hair walked out of the Alliance vessel, flanked by a black human and a formidable-looking Asari. "Welcome, Alliance soldier, to our little corner of paradise."
"Are you Darius? We were looking for you," the human asked bluntly.
"Yes, I am," Darius replied. "And your name?"
"Commander Shepard," the woman replied. "Is it true that you had a Ronald Taylor on your crew?" She asked.
Darius shook his head. "Never heard of him," he replied, much to the disappointment of the man standing close to Shepard.
Commander Shepard nodded, pondering this latest bit of information. "And what was your purpose here?" She asked.
"Exo-Geni financed the building of a colony on this planet," Darius explained, motioning for Natalie to continue.
"We were told to establish as big a presence as we could on Zilnyke, to make sure other corporations didn't get the same idea," Natalie said. "I should introduce myself. The name's Natalie Verna. I'm basically Darius' second-in-command," she added as she extended her hand.
"Good to meet you, Natalie," Commander Shepard replied as she shook the young woman's hand. "I'm guessing it went wrong. What happened?"
"Beats me," Darius replied with a shrug. "Something hit us, and we crashed. The captain and a lot of the command staff were killed. I was the next in line, and my first concern was erecting temporary structures for the survivors. After that was done, we could begin repairing the emergency beacon."
"How long ago did you crash here?" Shepard's human companion asked.
"Almost two weeks ago," Darius replied, "and work on the beacon started almost immediately."
Commander Shepard nodded. "This is Commander Shepard to the Normandy. Normandy, do you copy?" There was a brief pause as the reply came, and Commander Shepard said, "This isn't the Hugo Gernsback, but these people have been here a while, and we need to get them out of here. Stand by, Normandy. You're receiving a lot of visitors." The landing craft began moving people off the planet in groups of five. Darius insisted on being the last one off, stating that he wanted to make sure his people got off safely. "So, how would you describe this planet?" Commander Shepard asked as the door to the landing craft closed.
"The plants were inedible, the varren didn't taste that good, and the rations were bland. Overall, it was a toxic paradise," Darius replied wryly, causing the commander to chuckle as the laden Normandy made its way to a nearby world where the colonists would be picked up, and reimbursed for damages and trauma, by Exo-Geni.
This is my most ambitious hybridization, yet. Batarians hate humans. Let's just say that Darius' Batarian father had … unconventional ideas about humans. He got kicked off the Batarian homeworld for it, but he got to marry his love. Hope you liked it. Read and review. I'd be interested to see what hybridizations you would want to see.