Author's Note:
"Face-to-Face speech"
"Long-distance/comm channel speech"
'Thoughts'
{Language/words the listener doesn't understand}
Just wanted to clear that up.
*thud*
"..."
*thud*
"..."
*THUD*
He squinted his eyes closed against the dull pain in his head. A pain that was relieved slightly when he hit his head back against the door he was slumped against. With his arms over his knees that were pulled up near his chest and his back against the door he almost looked like he was just resting for a moment. A look at his face as his head had bounced against door rhythmically would dissuade anyone from that assumption.
His eyes were squeezed shut and his face contorted in pain as he did his best to sift through the whirlwind of thoughts.
*thud*
Images of other Asari flashed by his mind's eye. Others she had known and respected. 'It wasn't me dammit.'
*thud*
Late night typing at a his terminal, reviewing the day's work imports to make sure the numbers were correct. He remembers squinting at the screen as he read a line before looking down to type again. His hands are blue and he remember looking up into the mirror- 'No, no, no! I'm Commander Marcus Rein, I'm not blue, I'm not an alien...'
*thud*
He's pacing in his apartment on the station. Had he given his notice too soon, he hadn't actually gotten word from the Pilot's Federation yet. If he wasn't accepted….a trilling alarm sounds and he's confused for a moment as he looks to his terminal. The trilling is shrill in his ear and he realizes it's coming from his arm. She lifts her arm and looks at the notice on her Omni-tool, frowning as the alarm trills again. 'Argh!'
*THUD*
*THUD*
*THUD*
"..."
His face twitches and he opens his eyes, glaring at the ceiling.
"What the in the hell has happened to me?"
Silence answers him.
"I've-" A trilling noise interrupts him and on a reflex he didn't have, he lifts his right arm and stares at his wrist for a moment before sneering, disgruntled.
Pushing himself up quickly he shakes his head before he hears it again, a soft trilling alarm of an Omni-tool notice was coming from somewhere nearby. He wipes his forehead with a shaky hand and slowly begins following the sound as it echos through the ship.
The section of the ship he was in didn't seem to be terribly large but he remembered nothing of the terrified scramble earlier. Trying to think of that panicked rush made his head hurt. He pauses, leaning against a wall at a T intersection and listens for a moment for the trilling sound. After a moment he hears it although now he could almost make out the sound of a voice right after the trilling. He could almost catch a few indistinct musical words but not enough to understand what was being said.
'I was worried I wouldn't be able to understand the aliens and what do I get for that? One messed-up alien mind trick and a dead alien.' he barked a short, sardonic laugh, 'But now I can understand Thessian!' Glancing up at some of the writing on the wall he saw it was still gibberish however.
Wearily pushing off the wall, he walked after where he thought the sound was coming from, ignoring the Salarian body in the way, frowning slightly as he stepped past, realizing he knew what a Salarian is.
'Yeah, all for the low, low price of all this other bits of...her along with it.' the trilling followed by the almost recognizable words break his train of thought and pain stabs into his head for a moment causing him to sway mid-step before catching himself. He takes a moment, ignoring the words as hard as he can.
'No, I don't fucking care what you're saying, it's not English and I'm not a damn Asari...right, let's get that turned off now.'
He passes through the doorway of the room he hears the trilling alarm coming from and pauses, his brief moment of exasperated anger evaporates as he sees the body of the Asari. A feeling of dread and loss washes over him and he kneels next to her. Her head is slumped over and facing down slightly but he can still make out a sliver her black eyes under her brow as they stare at nothing.
The trilling noise and the voice echo through the room but the sound washes over him again as he struggles to keep himself from breaking down again, too lost in the struggle to control himself to pay attention to the words.
"I don't even know what your name was you know that?" His hand wipes at his eye as a tear tries to form with a prickling sensation in the corner of his eyes.
His gloved hand made a soft, gritty sound, the salt from the tears that had flowed unabated earlier had dried. He had almost lost himself after he saw the inside of that ruined room but he had managed to pull his mind out of the tangled anguish that hers had left as she died. Her memories were still there though, boiling just under the surface his thoughts.
"The dying was the worst part wasn't it? You didn't even know if Mira survived or not."
*trill*trill*trill* "This is the shuttle of the private vessel, Soft Wind, to any survivors. Do you read?"
His gaze snapped to the glowing orange band around the Asari's wrist, finally noticing it as it flared slightly as it trilled. It took a moment for the words to make their way through his surprise for him to actually understand what was being said.
His hands quickly reached for the band before pausing a moment. 'What the hell am I going to say here exactly? Hi! You don't know my species but I chased off some slavers and then a blue telepathic woman took her and my mind through a blender and died?' He struggled with that while watching the device.
The trilling sound and message repeated and with some trepidation he pulled the band off gently and stood up. Turning the thin, wide band over once he slipped the band around his wrist like it had been on hers. Straightening his back, he studied the band for a moment before one of her memories floated to the surface and he made a fist away from himself and lifted his wrist parallel to the ground.
The orange projection sprung up around his wrist and the notice for an incoming connection was blinking in Thessian. Before it could ring again he shrugged and passed his finger over the notification, feeling slight resistance and opened the connection.
Bringing the band close to his face, "...This is Commander Marcus Rein of the...ah, Pilot's Federation. There are no survivors on this ship."
He glanced down at the projection for a moment before grimacing, "Well, I'm on the ship but I'm not part of it's crew. I chased the slavers off...I'm Human? Not from around here which makes this first contact."
Silence stretched for a moment, he shook his arm and poked at the screen thinking he hadn't gotten something right before the voice came over the line again.
"I hear you and am showing you registered as Elcor Merchant ship, Freighter 419. I hear you but cannot understand you, do you need assistance?"
Bringing the projection up nearer to his face, "This. is. Commander. Marcus. Rein. I. am. Not. part. Of. this. Crew. I'm…" He paused as his arm drifted down and he looked down at the dead Asari and then over to the other dead alien in the room before realization dawned on him.
The line cracked briefly before the voice came back, "Freighter 419, your translator or transmitter seems to be broken, I hear you but I cannot understand you. I am moving to the airlock to assis...t"
There was a short silence before he heard a whispered, "What is that…"
'Shit, Lucy! She's still right next to the airlock, go figure the new alien would need to go there but then again the shuttle bay was-' With a flinch he cut that thought off before using his mindcom to check his connection with Lucy and sure enough, it was still holding position. Then he realized that he had been rambling to an another alien in English. Putting two and two together that while he could understand Thessian, the alien wouldn't understand him speaking English.
He didn't really want to speak Thessian, he had been trying to push everything the Asari had jabbed into his mind down deep so he could go about his life using the go-to coping mechanism.
Pretend it didn't happen, denial, and self-delusion. People were good at that sort of thing.
'Except now what do I do? Another alien is right outside and trying to talk. I'm pretty sure I could get to my ship and get away and this new alien would never be the wiser but isn't this the thing that all explorers look for?.' He blinked a few times as he thought, 'This is something new though, it's got that going for it.'
The gears in his mind turned for a moment longer before he glanced back at the band on his wrist. The Omni-tool. With a turn of his wrist the projection popped back up, showing the connection was still open.
He brought it up near his face and licked his lips, not realizing how dry his mouth had gotten or thirsty he was. Now though, he concentrated on what and how he wanted to say next.
She stared nervously at the strange ship as her shuttle held position a few hundred meters away from the damaged freighter with the other ship near it. The garbled words that had come over the comms moments ago now echoing in her head as she tried to make sense of things. She gingerly tapped a few commands on the console and a small window popped up with a magnified view of the ship and her eyes widened slightly.
She racked her brain trying to recognize it but it was just too different. Not just the decals and writing which didn't look like anything she'd seen in her centuries as a commando and under Matriarch Benezia. No, that wasn't all that was off about the ship. It was the design, the feel of the ship, a hundred little things as she studied the image.
Concern bubbled up as the thought that this might be first contact with someone occurred to her. The tail end of a slaver attack was just about the worse first impression to make. Right above actually just flat out attacking the newcomers but what she had figured out of what happened here was a close second.
She shook her head, 'Get a hold of yourself Shiala, it's probably just some custom private yacht.'
Sitting up in her chair she keyed in the commands and her shuttle moved closer to the ships towards the airlock of the freighter when a blue flicker from one of the circular indents on the strange ship caught her attention.
She squinted and as she reached out and expanded the magnified window of the strange ship, focusing on the circle when she saw it again. Small but intense blue puffs could be seen coming from raised circular vents along the strange ship and confusion furrowed her brow.
'Why is that ship venting….' she stopped the shuttle within a hundred meters of the two ships and looked at the navigation readout on her console. Watching the readout of the Mass Effect core subtly adjusting it's output to keep the shuttle in the position she stopped it at. With a few more commands she focused a few sensors on the strange ship and saw the distance shift slightly back and forth as the blue lights flared briefly across the strange ship at regular intervals.
"RCS jets, is something wrong that it doesn't use a Mass Effect field to keep position? But what sort of ship is designed with RCS anymore?" Turning to the sensor console she began tapping in the commands for a more detailed scan when the comm channel keyed open again.
"Soft Wind, this is {Commander Marcus Rein}. I am not a survivor of the crew of this ship. I'm {human}. I came across this ship being attacked and intervened. After the slavers were gone, I came aboard to look for survivors."
"..."
"There was one survivor but they...died soon after I found them."
Shiala's mind immediately started racing, trying to decide on the best way to answer when a thought popped in her head.
Clearing her throat she keyed to transmit, "When you say {human} what do you mean? I've not heard of that group and the transmission sounded garbled when you said who you were. I responded to the freighter's distress beacon which means that there will be more ships on the way to provide assistance as well."
She hoped the subtle reminder of the possibility of more ships arriving would buy her some time to make sense of the situation as she moved closer to the two ships. She stopped within ten meters of the two ships, spinning her shuttle to face away with the back hatch facing between the two, ready to leave in a moment just in case.
The comm blinked with a video connection request and she tapped the command to accept for two-way video. A window popped up, briefly showing static before clearing up. What showed on screen caused her mind to go blank for a moment. Both of them stared as she became unnerved at the face she was looking at.
The similarities to an Asari were astonishing and she could almost imagine mistaking the face for an Asari at a glance in a dark room. Over the clear video connection she had however, there was no confusing it. The color of the skin was far from anything an Asari would have, not to mention the color of the eyes. Strange protrusions of skin could be seen on each side of the figure's head. Short dark brown fur sat messily where any Asari's cartilage ridges would be on the top of the head. Even with the exposure to all the other species in Citadel space, the close but not exact resemblance the figure possessed to her species was more unsettling than someone entirely alien.
As close as the figure's face was to an Asari's the look on the figure's face seemed haggard as they spoke, "{Human} is not my group, my group is technically the Pilot's Federation. {Human} is my species."
With that confirming that this was a first contact, she glanced down, flustered, as she tapped a few readouts to give her time to think before she looked up suddenly, "You're speaking Thessian! If you're a new species and this is first contact, how do you speak it at all if there were no survivors on that ship?"
The human spoke again, that their lips syncing up to the words being said only added to the strangeness of the situation. That meant they were actually speaking Thessian and not just having it translated.
"There was a survivor, she was Asari. We….well, she melded with me." There was a pause and a look of what Shiala thought looked like hopelessness flashed across the human's face as they rubbed one of their eyes with the palm of their hand.
"I got Thessian and….other things stabbed into my mind during the meld." the figure put their hand down and looked back at the camera, "My name is Marcus by the way...and frankly I have no idea where to go from here. I just saw a signal pop up when I was exploring, I dropped out to find a ship being attacked." The image started to waver as Marcus explained and became more animated.
"So I'm surprised right?! This far out of the bubble and I find other ships and they're attacking each other. Then, then one of them starts shooting at me!" At that Shiala realized the situation was worse than she thought as Marcus continued, becoming more agitated as the image began to jostle around.
"I start seeing rounds ping off my shields as a channel opens from this big ship and I hear a voice, someone scrambling on the comms for help, I couldn't understand them but the desperation was clear. I've heard those same calls before." The image was bobbing now as Marcus seemed to pace and look around for something while keeping the Omni-tool positioned to keep him in frame.
"So I defend myself, I shoot the small ship down even though it's darting around like a deranged, boxy {Eagle}. Oh, but no, then my sensors show something else, a bigger ship coming my way and as my luck would have it, that one starts shooting at me too!" The video feed swings wildly for a few seconds as Marcus seems to gesture wildly before moving to grab something Shiala couldn't see.
After a few moments she hears a muted click and Marcus comes back into the frame, now with a helmet on, his gaze intense behind the clear face-plate. He caught her shocked expression and seemed to force himself to blink a few times then take a deep breath, shaking his head.
His head tilts slightly in thought before he looks back to her, reaching up to tap the helmet, "In my rush before I forgot some things, I am really, really glad you all breathe the same atmosphere as we do or I'd just be another corpse in this ship."
Shiala was at a loss for words, this had spiraled out far beyond anything she had ever expected to deal with and what this human, Marcus, had just described was exactly the first contact situations that she hoped hadn't happened. There was some good however, the human was talking to her. Talking was so much better than shooting.
Taking a deep breath, Shiala gathered her thoughts, "Marcus, my name is Shiala. I'm on my way back from a mission for my Matriarch and I...I'll be honest with you, I have no idea what to do here either."
At that Marcus let out a strained laugh, "That's good news actually, that's a reasonable reaction to this. That means there's a good chance this isn't all just me going crazy!"
She smiled, if only for his sake and hoped that their species were close enough alike that it was reassuring, "I do know who I can get in touch with to help with all this though. Help get us all past this and into a proper first contact."
The image shifted, his face no longer centered as the arm the Omni-tool Marcus was wearing dropped down. She could still see him in the corner of the frame look around him with an unreadable expression on his face. He didn't seem lost, just thoughtful and she let the silence stretch on, not wanting to push the situation. She remembered Benezia's lessons on dealing with someone you didn't want dead when they might become frantic. She knew she was using her own personal experience with known alien mannerisms but she didn't have anything better to go on. She might run across a huge cultural difference making assumptions but it seemed to be working out so far.
He broke the silence as she watched the feed sway rhythmically as Marcus started walking through the ship, almost whispering to himself, "Great, because I'm the perfect person for this sort of thing...I could still just leave..."
He stopped and looked around him and she took the chance to interrupt his train of thought, "There's more than slaver attacks in our space, this is actually known but unregulated territory. In the majority of our space this doesn't happen. The Asari have met other races as well. We're all part of the Citadel Council, the governing body over..."
The video feed was suddenly framing Marcus' face again, closer than it had been before as he studied her intently before the video shifted and she saw a line of bodies of different bodies, all missing their heads.
She recognized it from some of the more unsavory places she had gone as a commando. These people had been getting ready to be taken as slaves and from the look and position of the bodies, the dead man switch had tripped.
Her pause didn't go unnoticed as she heard Marcus speaking again, "I know, saw the bodies before I found the Asari dying."
"..."
"What is the Citadel Council? Is that far from here?"
Grateful for small steps in the right direction she looked at the other consoles and then behind her in the small shuttle. The small, one person shuttle was hardly a place to sit and speak with someone in any comfort and she didn't want to suggest meeting on the freighter Marcus was on.
"I could explain it to you but I feel it would be best to do it face to face. My shuttle fits me with little room to spare and I imagine you want to get off that ship. Would it be acceptable to meet on your ship?"
Marcus shook his head and he seemed to hop up and down before answering distractedly, "No...not my ship. There's a room on this ship we can talk in and I can decide if I don't just want to leave. If we can sit down and talk it might make this whole situation less surreal."
Not at all what she was expecting but she took it as a show of faith that neither of them would be able to just leave. Besides she was sure they were both improvising and had no real training for first contact, "I'll come aboard then, can you meet me near the airlock? I'll need to talk with my Matriarch and let her know what is happening as well. We can talk again once I'm on board."
With a nod Marcus cut the feed and Shiala fell back in her chair and exhaled, taking a moment to relax and think. She reached up and rubbed her forehead, feeling out of her depth with what was happening..
A look of trepidation crossed her face as she sat up and started setting up the most secure connection she had with Matriarch Benezia while mumbling to herself, "Matriarch, I'm going to have to drop this in your hands, Goddess help me this is whole thing is screwed sideways."
Benezia smiled in an understanding but condescending way that her and other Asari Matriarchs eventually learn to perfect after the first seven or eight centuries of their lives. The gesture was lost on the Hanar she was speaking with though. She was sure it would carry over in her voice as she worked to convince the Hanar to allow her daughter to the Prothean site on the planet.
The Hanar's bio-luminescence flashed as they reiterated their complaint, "This one humbly must decline your invitation of your daughter's presence at the Enkindler's shrine. This one feels she may be too young to appreciate their gifts as the Hanar do."
'So it's the same here as well, her theories about the Protheans are doing her no favors...still. She is my daughter.' Her thoughts and exasperation did not reach her expression or voice as she gave a subdued, thoughtful nod.
"I had actually hoped the Illuminated Primacy's views would be a positive influence-" She was interrupted, one of her aides was being rather overt in their bid for her attention. So much so that it could only mean one of two things: either the matron was not informed of the importance of the call she was currently on, or there was something her carefully picked and trained aide felt was more important.
The interruption only lasted a brief moment, hardly noticeable to most but the Hanar would have picked up on it undoubtedly.
"However, if you feel the Illuminated Primacy would be unable to educate my young daughter, I understand. Perhaps it is best, thank you." She inclined her head respectfully before stepping away, the call disconnecting just as the Hanar began to speak again. The Hanar would find they would be running into issues in the near future with their efforts in Citadel space.
"Matriarch, I apologize for the interruption but Shiala is requesting your attention with great urgency. She is using the most secure protocols she has available to her."
That piqued Benezia's interest, she trusted Shiala to know when such a thing was necessary and if it would require her full attention. Showing no outward sign of her thoughts she nodded, prompting her aide to bow and leave. She went to her quarters where she could take the call securely.
The door closed behind her as she passed through the threshold, reaching out and smoothly tapping in the commands to secure her room on a panel inside the door. Moments later, dormant security hardware came online, adding layers of encryption and obfuscation as the same thing happened in the shuttle Shiala was in.
Seconds later, much longer than connections usually took to establish -even across the galaxy, the lights dimmed in her room and a projection of Shiala seated in the shuttle flickered into place.
"Honored Matriarch, I have news of possible galactic importance." Benezia stood straighter at that, an eyebrow raising in question. She knew Shiala was not known for overestimating events or ever reporting before she knew for a fact she needed to. In her mind, Benezia decided to clear her schedule for the next few weeks. Galactic events were never short affairs.
"What have the Terminus colonies been doing Shiala?"
"Not them Matriarch, that all went as you wanted, no." Shiala paused and took a deep breath before reaching forward and sending a command. Moments later the files arrived and opened, some familiar, the damaged Elcor freighter and the wreckage of a Batarian 'privateer' shuttle.
Those pictures Benezia simply glanced over, the ones that caught her attention were much less mundane. Images of a strange ship and a still-frame of a face that was uncannily similar to an Asari along with a few short video clips and audio logs.
"Matriarch Benezia, I have been involved in a first contact on the border of Terminus and Council space. I am utterly out of my depth."
Benezia's composure broke as her hands began moving across the controls swiftly as she sifted through what Shiala had sent until she came to a video clip.
"There was a survivor, she was Asari. We….well, she melded with me. I got Thessian and….other things...stabbed into my mind. My name is Marcus by the way...and frankly I have no idea where to go from here." Benezia paused the video after that, the implications running through her mind as she stared intensely at the frozen image of Marcus, attempting to commit the face to memory.
Her voice echoed with every second of her near millenia of life as she shifted her gaze back to Shiala, the matron flinching on reflex.
"Tell me everything, NOW."
So I'm shooting for posting around weekends, Friday - Sunday.
Hopefully you're entertained!