Authors Note: Here's a long one (or rather longer one) for ya. I'm proud of this chapter and hope y'all like it too. Lots of character development here. As always, feel free to comment, give feedback, ideas, whatever floats your boat.
Thank you to the favorites and follows and thanks for reading!
Mass Effect
"Foreign Relations"
Chapter Nine: Ripple Effect
These images were clearer now, they made more sense. It was horrifying and intense as the cipher not only translated the images but all the emotions that went with it. They were tied into the strong emotions and overwhelming guilt and responsibility she felt for Nihlus' murder. She saw it all, the butchery of the Prothean race, the dark shadow that was the Reapers, the menacing feeling of dread that left a dark empty hole in the pit of her stomach. It was a nightmare, the flashes, the images in a wash of red and black. She saw the pain and suffering of the entire galaxy all run together in a confusing flurry of horror.
She heard a voice, through the red and screams of a dying galaxy. It was familiar, a gentle male voice colored with concern. "Shepard. Shepard, wake up." The rough voice became clearer, through the madness of her mind as it repeated the order.
Kaidan hovered over Shepard's tossing and turning body in the medical bed. "Shepard. Sidda. Wake up."
Sidda roared to consciousness with a scream, a mix of fear and aggression. All she saw was someone over her but she didn't register who it was right away. Her biotics flared and she dropped off the bed away from Kaidan. Her chest heaved with heavy, fearful breaths, and Kaidan held out his hands in as non-threatening manner as possible. That was a hell of a nightmare and it was good guess that it had something to do with that damn cipher she was given. The last time she'd had her brain scrambled she was out for 16 hours. This wasn't quite as long but it was identical to what happened before so far.
"Shepard, it's me." Kaidan stated trying to jar her out of the nightmare she was still in. "it's Kaidan..." he continued and moved closer to her but kept the bed between them. "You're back on the Normandy…you're okay."
The blue energy around her dissipated and Sidda remembered where she was and what was going on. Kaidan moved around to her as she bent forward pressing her hands against her temples. "Talk about a hangover…" she groaned. "There's too much stuff in here."
She felt his hands touch her as he helped her back to the bed. Kaidan had a gentle touch, different from Victus'. It always felt like Victus was tempering his touch so his claws didn't hurt her. Kaidan's touch didn't feel like that, she admitted that she missed the touch of a human male; the soft, warm skin, and a grip that wouldn't snap her bones like kindling if he put his mind to it.
Sidda wasn't alone in the hangover headache; the toxic goo Kaidan got hit with and unfortunately ingested tripped an implant migraine that had debilitated him for hours. He'd only just crawled out of bed when he heard Sidda thrashing around and moaning loudly two beds over. "Yeah I know what you mean." He said feeling the throb he'd forgotten about while dealing with Sidda returning with full force. She crawled, literally, back onto the bed and rolled onto her back putting her palms back on her temples squeezing her skull to make the headache go away. "That doesn't work." He said seeing her trying to squeeze the headache away.
Sidda cackled lazily closing her eyes. "What the hell happened?" she asked thankful that the lights were dimmed already.
Kaidan's brain still throbbed and he sat down on the bunk next to hers. "What's the last thing you remember?" he asked and took a couple gulps of water from the glass he had next to his bed behind him. "Here, it'll help."
Sidda took the half full glass from him and drained it quickly without a second thought that he'd already drunk from it. "The Asari…what's her name…gave me the cipher."
"You passed out, we got you back to the Normandy, and the colonists are all fine. Dr. Baynum promised that ExoGeni would look after the colony but I recommend that the Alliance look in on them." He stated as he felt the headache start to rage again. Sometimes being an L2 really sucked. "Oh and Cerrus killed Shiala." He added. "The Asari."
Sidda paused, opening her eyes and risked a look at the Sentinel to her left. Being Human she was still attracted to Humans and being able to see the muscles outlines under Kaidan's tight shirt. Wow, her hormones were getting the better of her as she looked returned to her previous position of squeezing her temples and hiding behind her eyelids. "Let me guess, 'she can't be trusted'?"
"Yep." He replied as he moved over to get more water taking the glass from her to refill it.
Sidda brushed that off; Cerrus' instincts were usually right on about stuff like that. "Well, that's typical Cerrus." She said and heard him fill the glasses and returned one to her before crawling back into his own bed waiting for another medication dose from Chakwas. An implant migraine was normal for him although he hadn't had one in about three months. Feros triggered a bad one and they usually included a night in medical and two doses of a medication called Anaprophol. Specifically developed to treat the awful migraines caused by complications from L2 implants. "How are you? You were covered in the toxic crap."
Kaidan groaned. "Antitoxins I had and what Chakwas had fixed that but somewhere along the line a migraine flared up." He said his tone soft and quiet reflecting how he was feeling.
Sidda gave him and sympatric smile. She was an L3 and didn't have to worry about the L2 side effects; she did get headaches when she used her abilities nonstop. She had the worst headache in the world after Elysium and it lasted three days but beyond that she had never had a problem with her implant. Talking wasn't helping either of their headaches so she tapped a button on the wall over her head and turned off all the lights in the bay except for the light over the door.
Several hours passed and Sidda was still crashed on the bed when Kaidan felt good enough to move around and made his way down to the bay to rummage through his locker. He felt the need to move and do something and he wasn't hungry yet. By all rights he could be but his stomach probably couldn't handle food right now without giving it back. He found Cerrus and Wrex in the bay and Ashley was nowhere to be found, that was about normal, if Cerrus was in the area Ashley wasn't.
"How are you feeling?" Cerrus asked and that surprised him.
Kaidan paused a moment before stripping off his shirt and putting another one on. "Head still hurts a little but I had to get out of the infirmary." Cerrus glanced over at him from the weapons he was cleaning off. The biotic sighed itching to do something right now. "You want to spar?" he asked and Cerrus looked over at him sharply a little surprised. "Shepard swears by your training."
Cerrus scoffed and nodded. "Shepard swore during my training." He replied and nodded. "Alright, Lieutenant."
Cerrus didn't go after Kaidan full bore; he practiced restraint to make sure he was okay. Kaidan was better than he'd expected but nowhere near as aggressive as Cerrus thought he should be. He was a defensive fighter, a lot like Sidda but far more controlled. The sparring went from something to do to a little bit of actual training as Cerrus gave him some pointers to give him an edge.
"So where are you from?" Kaidan asked as Cerrus pulled him to his feet after knocking him to the ground. "I'm not up to date on the markings."
"Ramad, Taetrus." Cerrus answered simply. "You?"
"Vancouver, Canada. Earth." Kaidan replied as they engaged again in a fast 'fist fight' that Cerrus controlled but Kaidan finished. Kaidan blocked each hit and landed several hits that were dialed back in power. He trapped Cerrus' right arm in his grip and kicked his legs out from under him causing Cerrus to fall face first into the ground. The only reason Cerrus didn't bust his face on the deck was because he put his left hand down to brace. That was impressive he admitted that.
Cerrus couldn't help but grunt feeling the jarring pain from his palm to his shoulder. Kaidan held him there a moment before patting his shoulder and helping him stand back up. "Where'd you learn to fight?" he asked.
"BAaT." He replied and Cerrus cocked his head.
"BAaT. Why do I know that?" he asked and Kaidan set up for another round.
"Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training." He clarified and Cerrus nodded remembering that from his military training.
"Ahh…right." Cerrus nodded. "Who was the Commander of that? A mercenary named…ummmm-…"
"Vyrnnus." Kaidan said his tone a little quieter. "Terrible teacher…thought that hurting his students was a good way to teach. He's starved us, beat us, and broke a girls arm when she wanted a glass of water…"
Cerrus felt the only twinge of shame he'd ever felt when talking to a human. His people weren't exactly nice to outsiders but taking it out on kids was over the line, even he wouldn't do that. He couldn't imagine a Cabal mercenary training young humans so soon after 314. "You were the one who killed him." He said and Kaidan nodded a little surprised that Cerrus knew the story. Apparently, what happened at Jump Zero was known among the Turians. "Not a very good first impression was it?"
Kaidan shrugged, he'd come to terms with this long ago and unlike Ashley he preferred to see the good in people not just all the bad. "You guys are human..." he stated and noticed Cerrus visibly sneer to that nearly offended by the term. "for lack of a better term. You guys are heroes and assholes just like us. There's good ones like Garrus and bad ones like Saren." He said and Cerrus looked away from him. The human's capacity for understanding and forgiveness was amazing, after everything Vyrnnus did to him he still forgave him. Cerrus didn't have that capacity.
"And I'm somewhere in the middle." He stated in a kindhearted joke that made Kaidan snort.
"Nah, Cap, you're one of the good ones." He said and Cerrus couldn't believe it…he made a human friend. He liked Kaidan, he wasn't like other Humans. "A little rough but still a good one."
Cerrus stepped toward him and extended his right hand to him. Kaidan narrowed his eyes to the gesture and it was obviously a handshake. When they met Cerrus was cold and prickly, a head nod was their introduction basically. Kaidan took his hand in a firm and respectful handshake. "Call me Tyr." He said and Kaidan felt a smile tug at his mouth. He made a friend. Not only did he make a friend, he made a friend with the biggest asshole on the ship. A badge of honor Cerrus carried proudly.
Sidda's head finally stopped pounding the next day after letting Liara kick her feet around in her head to help make sense of what the cipher had unlocked. Yes, Sidda now understood what all those horrifying images meant but it didn't get her any closer to figuring out where the Conduit was, what it was, or why Saren was so hot for it. Liara didn't get much but a head spinning understanding of how the Protheans were really destroyed. Poor Anthropologists' entire academic understanding of galactic history was turned on its ear but that was about it for the fourth time her brain went through the spin cycle.
Now she was starving, she didn't feel much like eating after she was released from medical and ran a few errands, so to speak, now she felt like she could eat the ship and still not be satisfied. She headed into the Mess Hall and found a curious sight that made her stop in her tracks.
"So does that stuff come off? Or do you paint it on every morning?" Kaidan asked Cerrus as he sat across from the Turian digging into something that was jokingly called Salisbury steak and she couldn't even guess what Cerrus was eating.
Cerrus nodded before swallowing the mouthful of food. "It's a semi-permanent paint that can only come off with a certain compound." He stated and Sidda brow furrowed deeply. Where the hell was she? "Once it's on it stays there until I take it off."
Kaidan noticed Sidda looking at them with a confused expression on her face. "Something wrong, Commander?" he asked and Cerrus didn't even bother to glance up at her.
Sidda's mouth worked but no words came out for a moment as she realized that these two were actually bonding. Cerrus was bonding with someone other than another damn Turian. Kaidan was Human…Cerrus was having a civil conversation with a human. "Twilight Zone." she replied finally and Kaidan chuckled, understanding her confusion. "Out of everyone on this ship you could buddy up with you choose Kaidan?" she asked and Kaidan took that as an insult.
"Hey!" he scolded lightly, understanding how to handle being teased.
"No offense." She added and Kaidan flashed a smile telling her that he really wasn't offended.
"It's not really a choice, Commander; it's more of a lack of options." Cerrus stated and Kaidan scoffed at the comment.
"Thanks for that." He stated taking a drink from the bottle but still wasn't offended.
"Let's break it down…so both of you understand. There's the crew that still doesn't know what to do with me or Garrus, there's Dr. Chakwas who seems nice but I only talk to her when she's patching me up, a mouthy pilot that I'd much rather escort to the airlock, you and we both know how that usually goes, and then there's the Chief…who is worse than you and I didn't think that was possible." Cerrus explained, and Sidda moved to the refrigerator and came up with a bottle of water twisting of the cap.
"So that leaves you with Kaidan?"
"He's good at his job, he does what he's told, he doesn't fight with me for the sheer sport of it, and he's the only one on this ship I can have an intelligent conversation about Biotiball and Clawball with." Cerrus continued and Sidda narrowed her expression further to Kaidan.
"Clawball, seriously?" she asked and the biotic shrugged in defense.
"What? It's fun to watch." He defended and Sidda chuckled, seeing Cerrus friends with a Human was a galactic brain builder and almost unsettling but Sidda gave props to him. At least he wasn't pummeling everyone who looked at him wrong.
She chuckled and set the bottle down on the table and then started hunting for something to eat. "When you two are done bonding, Cerrus, I want you and Ashley to inventory all the weapons, mods, and ammo mods we have so I know what I need to get from Spectre Recs." Cerrus wasn't thrilled with the idea of doing that with Ashley but nodded sharply.
With her food collected she went into her quarters and summoned Garrus, after she emerged from Medical she got a debriefing from Pressley. The Navigator wasn't happy about Garrus taking the lead and informing the Council about what happened on Feros but it wasn't exactly like the rest of the crew was stumbling over themselves to do so. Garrus was a cop and was familiar with the Council so he knew how to be informative and diplomatic to a point while giving them enough information to keep them satisfied.
Garrus didn't know how to stand in her quarters, so informal, not what he was used to. Sidda was seated and scarfing down the last bits of food on her plate immediately feeling better. He saw a few Turian trinkets and narrowed his expression to it cocking his head as he drew closer to them. One of them was an old replica carving of the ancient Spirit of Valor. That was a strange thing to see, his people generally believed that the spirits weren't deities like Asari and Humans believed. This was a replica of a relic from a very long time ago.
Sidda saw him looking but not touching and slipped into the typical response when she saw someone looking at it. "Spirit of Valor." She stated as it didn't dawn on her that he probably already knew what it was.
Garrus blinked and turned to her. "Yes, Commander, I know that." He stated as he could see she realized her error but he didn't sound offended.
"Adrien gave it to me." She said with a smile as she remembered the day he gave her that gift.
Garrus nodded and knew her reputation, after Elysium he could understand why Victus would see her as a Spirit of Valor or at the very least bring one to his ship. "You asked me here, Commander."
Sidda nodded. "Pressley said you talked to the Council on my behalf."
Garrus nodded and stood with his hands behind his back, no matter how long he'd been out of the military he still couldn't shake the posture. "I did. With you and Alenko indisposed I took the liberty of briefing the Council when they called." He stated and Sidda looked him up and down, like most Turians she'd met, they were men of action and she respected that.
"What'd they say?" she asked and leaned back on the couch propping her feet up on the table.
"They were their usual grating and condescending selves." He stated. "They weren't too happy about you killing the Thorian and wrecking ExoGeni's research to save a human colony. Then I reminded them that a Turian saved the colony…not you." He explained and seemed to relax a little as her posture remained so informal with him. "Should have seen them squirm."
She chuckled quietly wishing she was there to see them put their respective feet in their mouths. "They say anything else?" she asked.
Garrus shook his head. "Pushing for results and berating your choices." He said and she chuckled. She liked Garrus, she really liked Garrus, he made her laugh and wasn't bad to look at.
She sighed heavily rubbing her head. "Thanks for taking the initiative, Garrus." She said with a smile, despite all the 'sleep' she'd had she was still tired.
Garrus gave her a nod that she knew meant 'you're welcome' in Turian. "How are you doing?"
"Tired." She answered honestly as she could see him studying her. "Liara's chasing down some leads she got after running through my brain. All I see is death and destruction."
"Don't wear yourself out, Shepard." He stated and she smiled to him. "Get some rest…we can't do this without you." He said and she offered him a smile that said it all, a big thank you, as he walked out of her quarters and left her to sleep.
There was dead silence between Cerrus and Ashley as they conducted their task given to them by Sidda. In Cerrus' mind he'd made the conscious effort to be civil with people, talking with Kaidan and actually bonding with him compelled Cerrus to try to be a little more patient and civil with the Chief. This could be a good thing or it could be a miserable failure.
"So where are you from, Chief?" he asked copying Kaidan's broach from before.
Ashley was less then receptive to his question. "What do you care?"
Cerrus grumbled to himself and shook his head. Apparently Kaidan's evolved sensibility was unique to him. He didn't know what Ashley's issue was but it couldn't be worse than Kaidan and Vyrnnus. "Fine." He replied.
Ashley huffed also and grumbled to herself, she knew what he was attempting but that didn't mean she liked him. "Sirona." She answered bitterly.
He wasn't even going to pretend to know where that was but decided to try to further the small talk. "Family?" he continued and he heard her grumble again.
"My mom and my sisters." She answered quickly her tone equally as bitter as before. "Dad died a few years back." She added and was a little grouchy about the idea that she volunteered that information. "What about your father?" she asked but her tone was less than friendly.
This was the downside to asking personal questions about someone else's life. They'd ask him the same in return. So long as he didn't have to answer any questions about his wife he was generally okay with it. "My father was killed by Humans; Shanxi bastards killed him and desecrated his body." Cerrus stated and didn't bother to look at Ashley as he spoke.
Ashley scoffed. "Should have stayed away from the colony then." She hissed and it was official…this conversation just took a disastrous turn.
"Your people started that conflict…we should have just blew up Shanxi from orbit and been done with it." He bit back and couldn't stop his hatred from welling up.
Ashley hit Cerrus with a right hook so hard it knocked Cerrus over the bench and crates causing tools, crates, and equipment to bury him. "You don't talk about Shanxi that way!" she barked.
Cerrus had to admit that was a hell of a hit but that's where his admiration ended. He was going to kill that bitch and sprang to his feet launching over the debris with a sustained growl that actually sounded a lot like a roar. The Turian stood inches from her face almost bearing his teeth at her. "Chief, you hit me one more time I'll rip your spine out!" he roared exercising an unbelievable amount of self-control preventing himself from doing just that.
"My grandfather was the garrison commander on Shanxi." She snarled and Cerrus didn't move. If there was one Human colony he knew everything about it was Shanxi, his father died there so he learned everything he could about it including who Gen. Travis Williams was.
Cerrus couldn't resist, he was gonna kick her ass in a minute anyway. "You mean the one that surrendered?" he asked and caught her right fist as she fired another punch at him. The Turian didn't even move or flinch, he knew that she was going to do that. Ashley spun her back into him quickly and tossed him over her shoulder as if there was no effort at all. Cerrus hit the ground but recovered quicker then she would have expected and now that fight was on. Cerrus responded to the throw by slugging her hard across the face bloodying her mouth instantly. Ashley shook it off and attacked Cerrus again, now she was able to let loose and kick his ass. It wouldn't avenge the shit her family had been submitted to but it would sure as hell make her feel better.
The Lante had returned to its mission after deviating to help Sidda blow the hell out of the secret base. After finishing with aiding a Turian passenger liner in distress the frigate returned to its patrol maintaining a presence. They were cruising in on the end of first watch and a typical day in the CIC. Maridus and Victus traded stories and chatted about the new sports rankings that had come out and so on. The day was interrupted by a chorus of alarms coming from the LADAR station.
"General, multiple LADAR contacts." The Lante's sensor officer stated and Victus quickly moved over hovering of his shoulder. "They just appeared…damn near jumped on top of us.
"Identify." He ordered simply but as soon as the word left his mouth his ship shook violently as the familiar feeling of a mass accelerator weapon hit the hull.
"Computer says…" there was a pause as he checked it again. "Geth." He finished sounding more than a little surprised to see the computer spit back the identity as Geth. "One frigate and a about a half a dozen smaller ships, LADAR paints another one as a Terminus Raider."
"Battle stations." He ordered. "Weapons, as soon as you get a lock return fire."
The ship shook again and again as the Turian vessel had a hard time evading the smaller and far more maneuverable Geth ships. Not all of them were Geth though; one of them was a familiar raider. Those Raiders were a pest, maneuverable, not too powerful but they were generally out fitted with 'surprises'.
The fight with seven Geth ships was progressing as well as could be expected. The Lante was a brutal war machine armed with a top of the line GUARDIAN weapon system and skinned with the best armor that the military had developed but the Geth had powerful weapons of their own. They too had a GUARDIAN weapon system that was largely similar to their own so when it connected with the dorsal midsection of the Lante it was like they'd been hit by a damn meteor.
One direct hit caused a power surge through the power conduits over the CIC. "Direct hit to the primary mass accelerator." Maridus informed. "We've been hulled. Damn, that weapon's powerful."
Victus grumbled. "Seal it off." He ordered but Maridus was already on top of that.
"Done." He stated. "Mass accelerator is damaged, GUARDIAN is fully functional."
"Zara, protect our dorsal." Victus ordered but he felt the subtle movement of the ship beneath his feet telling him his pilot had already done that. "Lock the GUARDIAN on the frigate and fire. Target the engines."
The Lante's GUARDIAN beam fired and impacted the Geth frigate with a powerful blast causing a massive explosion and destroying the Geth frigate. "Direct hit. Frigate is destroyed." Maridus stated and Victus hovered over the LADAR station.
"Pick your targets, fire when you get a lock." He said giving his weapons station free will to fire.
The frigate shook violently knocking Victus and Maridus forward into their consoles. That wasn't a weapon impact, it was something else. "One of the smaller ships has attached to the hull. They're starting to cut through." Maridus stated.
"Location?"
"Deck 6, section 2."
"Nov, Deck 6, section 2, prepare to repel boarders." Victus ordered over the comm.
Nov and the other teams followed their procedure; donning their armor for exactly this sort of thing. With Masso on his right and Ruvvak on his left they lead the other at a trot toward the location. "Copy, we're on our way."
Nov understood that the only reason for the Geth to attack them was because they were looking for Sidda. That made Nov angry; whatever she was doing stirred them up enough to come for a Turian frigate.
Deck six was half engineering and half flight deck. The Geth were trying to cut into the side of the lower engineering section. "Check your fire. No armor piercing ammo. Squash and concussive rounds only in this room watch the exterior hull." Nov stated taking up position on right side of the door with Desala and Kalvaris with him and everyone else on the other side. He activated his Omni-tool and opened the door after making sure everyone had their helmets on.
The Geth were efficient, they burned through the hull quickly and cleanly and probably expected to be met with resistance on the other side. As soon as Nov entered he immediately lined up on a Geth and put a round through its light making the trooper drop. The firefight commenced as more Geth poured through the breach and onto the Lante. If the Geth managed to get past them it would be tough to stop them before they made it to engineering.
It wasn't a big room and the Turian sized troopers were easy to handle in CQB or hand to hand but the Geth weren't as concerned about checking fire as the Turians were. They may have been using plasma but that didn't save maintenance panels that were hit instead of any Turian. One exploded next to Kalvaris and he praised the Spirits that he had his helmet on. That burn would have hurt.
The room shook from a massive plasma blast from a Geth Destroyer, one of the big ones, the hulking death machine missed its intended target of Masso, and the blast spread into the interior bulkhead behind. Nov turned and sent a tech power into the machine hoping his sabotage would eliminate the weapon before it blew a hole into the room or an important conduit. The tech did its job and locked up the Destroyer's weapon causing it to backfire. Nov fired at it and narrowly backed away from the mech's powerful swing. The flurry of biotics, tech powers, and gunfire was exhaustingly confusing but Ruvvak managed to throw two grenades into the ship they were coming from. When it exploded the room rocked and fire spewed from the breach in the hull.
A moment later the ship bucked hard like something ran into it knocking nearly everyone off balance. Ruvvak and Nov got knocked into the Destroyer like an unholy threesome and the Seargeant took the opportunity to stick a grenade to its midsection under its torso armor then dove on Nov to get him out of the way. The powerful grenade exploded and took the Destroyer with it. Count that as a win for Ruvvak. The concussive blast was enough to ring every ones bell but thanks to the tac helmets it cushioned the blast a bit.
The mixed group of team members were breathing hard after repelling the Geth. Ruvvak's grenades didn't do much to prevent damage but it sure did halt the boarding party. Nov looked at the shorter Turian and patted his arm as he leaned against the wall a moment. "Well done, Sergeant."
"Security teams to the airlock." They heard Victus' voice bark over the ships intercom.
Nov wasn't sure what that was about but they couldn't leave this mess unattended. "Rek. De. Go." He said to Desala and Rajin and they were out the door before he finished. Sending a Vanguard and a Sentinel would be a big bolster to the ships small security force. He didn't know why the airlock needed security but he thought it better to safe than sorry.
The Raider was equipped with a 'forcible entry' feature at its nose. This was a slaver and pirate modification banned in Citadel space placed on the docking point of the ship that allowed nefarious people to break into a ships airlock quickly. This one was a mistake; the Raider came in too fast after being winged by one of the exploded Geth ships and literally crashed the airlock. It was ugly but it did the job. The Raider hit so hard it caused the Lante to spin wildly for a moment before Ruvio was able to correct it. Within minutes their inner airlock door was hacked and the Lante was boarded. If but for a few moments. A Salarian in dark blue armor seemed to be leading the charge followed by three Geth and a Turian. They didn't get far before the Lante's security force, Rajin, and Desala landed on them with both feet. There was quick but violent skirmish but they were no match for the highly seasoned Turian Special Operatives that crewed this vessel.
"Down!" Rajin barked to the Salarian after her overload fired his weapon and brought his shields down as she held him at gunpoint. "Now!"
Desala had used biotics to incapacitate the Turian and slammed him face first into the deck.
The Salarian eyed his surroundings and slowly got to his knees not taking his eyes off the female Turian whose pistol was shoved in his face. The Geth were swiftly disabled and the Turian was being restrained by another Turian female.
"Corporal, secure the airlock." Rajin ordered as the cuffed the Salarian.
The Lante won the skirmish but not without a lot of damage to go with it, she was a top of the line war machine but she wasn't invincible. The combat blew out several systems including Communications and Navigation, the mass accelerator was damaged because of the hull breach to the dorsal side of the ship, and she had a smashed portside exterior airlock, and hole cut through the side of Deck 6. Not their finest hour but the Turians were standing at the end and not the Geth.
Victus finally got irritated with the klaxon sounding off telling him that his ship had sustained significant damage in the fight. He already knew that and didn't need an alarm to tell him that. Nov and the teams had done an admirable job halting the boarding party, he did so well that they never made it past the section they breached but it was war to do so.
"Damar," he stated in a loud grouchy tone, "damage? And someone turn that damn alarm off."
He didn't have that answer. "Still coming in, that initalGUARDIAN blast nearly ripped us in half." He stated. "Two hull breaches including where they tried to board. Vellereck's working on a power damage assessment. Massive damage to the port side airlock though."
Victus grumbled, with his ship like this he couldn't get to Sidda to find out if she was okay. He'd have to repair it first or see if he could get a message to her. The klaxon cut out and at least that was one blessing.
Victus turned his attention to the only organics that they were captured. The party Nov stopped was all Geth and the ship that tried to crash the docking port was led by a Salarian and a Turian. Rajin and Desala stood behind them as both the Salarian and Turian were shoved to their knees.
"Who sent you?" he demanded. Both on their knees with their hands bound behind their backs, Victus eyed both of them.
The Salarian had a cold, dead expression and the Turian was a mercenary just by the look of him. He had grey skin and the full skull white colony markings of the Therin Outpost. More assassins and mercenaries had come out that small outpost than anywhere else in the Empire. The Turian was young with a very short crest. The Salarian wouldn't break, not with that expression, but Salarians were notoriously hard to torture or interrogate effectively. The hyper activity made chemical torture impossible and they were surprisingly resilient to pain. They were tight lipped to his question and he glanced to Maridus then back down to them.
"Side arm, Lieutenant." He ordered Desala holding out his right hand and she handed it to him without question. "If you don't tell me you will not like the end result." Neither one of them gave any indication of talking nor breaking but Victus didn't have the patience to deal with this. He wanted answers right now; Sidda could very well be in danger.
When there was no answer Victus quickly shot the Salarian in the head without even blinking and he saw the Turian flinch, surprised. Desala blinked also surprised and glanced to Rajin who didn't move, clearly this wasn't the first time Victus' interrogation went this way. "Do you know who I am?" he asked squatting down in front of him.
"Adrien Victus." The Turian answered after a few moments of hesitation.
"So you know what I'm capable of then…" he said. "you're gonna tell me exactly what I want to know or…" Maridus, Desala, and Rajin watched as Victus leaned toward his ear and whispered something in the young merc's right ear.
Their captive's eyes widened and he looked to Victus as he rocked back. "The Council outlawed that." He stated and Victus' mandibles clicked together.
Victus glared at him. "I'm going to assume that you were sent by the person who killed a friend of mine and tried to kill the woman I love…do you really think I care about Council sanctions?"
The Merc weighed his options, Victus was a household name in the Turian military and his legendary reputation preceded him. Being threatened by a legend didn't make him feel very good. "Saren." He said quietly. "I work for Saren…Saren tracked the destruction of Rothla back to Palaven Intelligence then to you."
"Desala, Get him to the brig I'll question him later." He ordered and looked to Rajin. "You, get to Medical and help Holum."
Rajin tilted her head to the left seeing blood down the side of his head. "You want me to look at that, Sir?" she asked and he shook his head sharply.
"Later." He said and Rajin headed out with a nod as Desala hauled the Turian prisoner to his feet dragging him out of the CIC.
Nov still hadn't stowed his weapon when he was summoned to the CIC. The ship took considerable damage from the attack, more damage than it really should have. He made his way past the repair crews and the Salarian body being removed and heard Maridus barking orders.
"Holum, casualties?" Victus asked as Holum's voice replied quickly over the comm.
"23 wounded 6 critical, no dead." The Doctor rattled off and Victus praised that at least.
"Excellent, keep it that way." Victus replied shortly and cut off the internal line. "Captain." He acknowledged.
His tone was one Nov knew well, he wanted a report. "They didn't get past us…didn't even get out the section they breached. Whole lot of Geth scraps down there now." He stated and if Victus hadn't made the connection he sure did. "It's Geth…what do you want to bet these guys were after Sid. Are we in range to contact her?"
Victus let out the all too familiar 'she's mine not yours so back off' growl, frustrated and now very pissed off. "Right now we can't contact anyone. Comm is down…help fix it."
Nov didn't care about overstepping bounds when it came to Sidda. She was in trouble and he knew it but he didn't argue with Victus instead he put his rifle on the console and dropped down to the communication system and got to work with the officer.
"Who's in range?" Victus asked and Maridus narrowed his expression, they just went through this.
"Of what? A flare?" he asked and felt Victus' glare sap one year of his life away. "Last I saw it was the Havincaw."
"Can we jump?" he asked and returned to glowering at the holographic image of his damaged vessel.
Maridus shrugged, the last report from Vellereck wasn't too terrible. "Engines are online. Nav is down though." He answered effectively shutting down Victus' next plan. Victus slammed both fists onto the table with a frustrated growl. Sidda could very well be in trouble and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it in a broken ship.
"Get the systems back online." He hissed. "Comms first."
"What about the emergency beacon?" Maridus asked and Victus shook his head.
"That'll call everyone too us, good and bad, I don't want to use that yet." He said and headed up to the cockpit to see how Ruvio was doing.
"I told you two to inventory the armory, how the fuck did you make the leap from that to beating the hell out of each other?" Sidda snapped as she had both Cerrus and Ashley standing before her in her quarters. They both were smart enough not to try and answer that but Sidda wasn't satisfied with them. She set her jaw and shook her head to the both of them. "Cerrus, did you start this?"
This would be the one time Cerrus could say with absolute certainty that he didn't start that fight but he sure as hell finished it. "No." he answered simply.
Knowing Cerrus, he probably was lying about that, or at the very least, bending the truth. "Chief, what happened?"
"Permission to speak, Commander?" Ashley asked and Sidda knew she was going to regret it but she nodded. "Ma'am, I told you I wasn't going to take orders from a Turian." She snapped and Cerrus shook his head that was the last time he was going to try to get to know a crew member.
"I didn't give you an order." Cerrus muttered sounding annoyed with the Chief, more annoyed with her than he'd ever been by Sidda and she was a pain in the ass.
"You badmouthed the name of Grandfather, you bastard." She snapped and thought about turning toward him but decided to stay at parade rest.
Sidda couldn't help but remember being in the position with Cerrus in front of Victus, it lead to the huge blow out in the training room that broke her rib and damn near broke his left mandible. Cerrus kept his mouth shut displaying the extreme patience he lost in the Cargo Bay. "Alright, goddamnit, that's enough." Sidda snapped now knowing how Victus felt when he had to wrangle her and Cerrus' spats for a year. "Now I know how Adrien felt." She stated and Cerrus' expression didn't change though the comment was directed at him.
He had a swollen right eye and his left mandible was discolored, there were other obvious signs of a fight but Ashley looked worse than he did telling her that Cerrus controlled the fight. He was injured she knew that but Turians were bloody good at hiding injuries. In regards to Ashley, she looked about like Sidda did after her major fight with Cerrus. She had a long diagonal gash over her right eye where Cerrus had seen fit to bounce her head off the Mako twice, to the Chief's credit she didn't back off though. The cut was sealed by Chakwas' work and her left eye was puffy bruised and swollen as the eye itself was bloodshot, both cheeks and both sides of her jaw were bruised heavily, her mouth was swollen, and the bottom right side of her lip split. She also had a very visible mark on her throat from Cerrus' massive hands but other than that everyone was upright. "I hear or see or this again, you two so much as touch, and I'll lock you both up together in a small room and see which one survives." She'd taken some cues from Victus as Cerrus was certain that he'd heard that particular speech before.
"Commander," Joker's voice interrupted. "message from the Lante, they've been attacked."
Sidda looked at Cerrus whose expression changed slightly with a flicker of worry. "Coordinates?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am." He replied quickly.
"Take us to them." She ordered without a second though. Victus wouldn't tell her if it were just a scuffle with raiders or pirates. This had something to do with her that she knew.
The Normandy appeared in the sector and made its way to the damaged Turian frigate. After figuring out how to dock with the Lante's damaged cradle, Sidda and Cerrus went aboard. Cerrus blinked, he hadn't seen this much damage in years.
"Jesus Christ." She cursed as she stepped over repair crews to get to the CIC with Cerrus. "What in the hell caused this much damage?" she asked and Maridus was happy to answer.
"GUARDIAN blast, two of them. Had to be modified to hull us in one damn hit." He said and Sidda shook her head in disbelief.
"How many dead?" Cerrus asked.
"None." Victus answered joining the group and nodding to Sidda maintaining his professionalism. "Surprisingly, given the damage."
"What happened?" she asked and Victus gave her the abridged version.
"The Geth, Saren, or whatever figured out we gave you the Rothla information. Guess this was his way of politely telling us to mind our own business." Victus explained quickly. "We would have told you sooner but we took substantial damage to the Comms and primary systems."
Sidda was more worried about him but he seemed fine.
"They crashed our docking cradle and then tried to board us on the engineering level." A very familiar voice stated as it approached from the right. Nov, still in his armor splattered with Geth fluid with his rifle on his back. From where he came from he seemed to be doing tech work in the CIC. "But they ran into me…I talked them out of it." He added and Sidda smiled to him.
"We have a prisoner in the brig if you want to talk to him." Victus said and she nodded.
"A lot of Geth strewn across the ship…maybe your resident Geth expert could have a look at them." Nov suggested and Sidda looked over to Cerrus.
"Cerrus, get her on board and also see if they need any repair help." She said Cerrus gave her a small nod watching Sidda and Victus walk away.
"I see you two are getting along." Nov commented then noticed the swollen parts of his face. "Apparently not with everyone."
"Chief." He responded simply and Nov chuckled.
"Yeah, I could have guessed that." He stated and looked him up and down spotting what parts he was favoring. He could see the dark bruising on his left hand and the way he carried his left arm. "How'd it go?"
"I'll hand it to the Chief…she's not bad." He muttered and Nov chuckled.
"Damar, contact the Havincaw, we're gonna need help with the repairs." Victus called over his shoulder.
Sidda had a few memories of the Lante's brig; she'd spent a little time 'cooling off' after the squabble on the deck with Cerrus that damn near broke his left mandible. That was the only time Victus parked her there but what had made it less aggravating was Cerrus in the cell next to her.
Victus still hadn't bothered to seal up the gash on his right temple from smacking into the Galaxy Map, so blood had streamed down the said of his face, down his neck, and onto his tunic. Typical Turian, you could chop an arm off and they'd still complete the mission without so much as a peep.
"You need me to patch that up?" she asked him as he walked on her left. She wasn't a medic but knew enough about field dressings to do the trick.
He'd forgotten about it, it had been an hour since he sustained the injury. "Hmmm?" he asked confused as to what she was talking about. That was just like him; he did a nasty header into the railing on the Talas Science Station then fell 30 feet but never paused for a break. She pointed to her left temple then to his and he remembered cussing when it happened. "Oh, it's nothing. I'll have Rajin or Holum take care of it later."
"How'd it happen?" she asked falling in behind him to make room for a repair crew with a bulky component.
It wasn't glamorous but as of late his injuries rarely were. "Slammed my head into the Galaxy Map when the Raider crashed the airlock."
"Ouch." She said with a hiss and moved up next to him. "What is it with you and leading with your head?"
Victus laughed as he scanned his palm into the brig sensor. "I don't know." He chuckled and gestured for her to go first.
Inside the young Turian prisoner was seated on the bunk stripped down to his armors under clothes and bare feet. Seeing a Turian out of armor was still a damned odd sight. Typically when they dealt with other races they wore armor 24/7 it was still strange to her to see Victus out of his armor and even worse seeing Cerrus in his casual uniform on the Normandy. He was seated but she judged his height at about average for a Turian and a very short horn crest.
Victus dropped the barrier and Sidda stepped toward him. "Get on your feet." Victus growled and the prisoner looked up at him.
He wasn't afraid to admit it but Victus scared the hell out of him. After seeing him shoot the Salarian and knowing his reputation he's honestly rather be dead right now.
"No, it's okay." Sidda said and Victus let her run it. Humans were not viewed as a threat by Turians and especially not Human females so she might just get something else from him. "What's your name?" she asked calmly, trying the velvet touch with him.
When he didn't answer Victus spoke up. "You can answer her questions her way or mine my way." He threatened. "Your choice."
The Turian swallowed hard. "Dagnus." He answered quietly with a moment or two of thought. "Dagnus Lucan."
Sidda nodded and actually sat down next to him. Victus let his mandibles tighten, he didn't like that and she knew it but with him there she knew that she was perfectly safe. "How old are you?"
Victus guessed not even 20. "18." Dagnus replied and Victus shrugged internally, tall for 18.
"Do you know who I am?" she asked and the kid nodded, he was nervous, defiantly not a hardened Merc. He was silent for a moment and then answered.
"What's the point? I'm dead anyway." He stated Victus snorted; well at least he was smart enough to know Palaven Command would probably convict him of treason and execute him.
"Start talking and you might just live to see Palaven." Victus threatened and Sidda understood her lover was pissed and running out of his legendary patience.
"Adrien, please." She said and could see his posture stiffen, not happy about her shutting him down. "I know you were sent by Saren in retaliation for Rothla…what else."
Sidda's nice approach appeared to be working but Victus could tell it was more than that. The kid was scared of him and that pleased him more than it should have. "Saren put a bounty on you through the Shadow Broker…and anyone who helps you."
Sidda could have figured that, his goons had already tried to kill her on the Citadel. "Where'd you get the Geth?" she continued.
"We were instructed by Saren to pick them up from a system near the Terminus." He stated. "I don't know where and Sule, the Salarian, didn't ask."
Victus asked the obvious question. "Do you know where he is?"
"No." he answered shaking his head. "Try Noveria…he had some kind of business there." He added. "I don't know anything else, Commander, I swear."
Sidda was content with it, if he knew more she was certain that Victus would get it out of him eventually but for now she left the terrified kid be.
Out in the hall she looked up at Victus. "That kids terrified of you, Adrien, what the hell'd you do to him?" she asked with a snort as she walked along with him toward the lift.
"Remember the Salarian he spoke of?" he asked and she nodded as he went into his explanation. "I shot him right in front of him in the CIC then threatened to literally pull him apart one piece at a time until he told me what I wanted to know."
Sidda laughed as they approached the lift. "My Adrien," she smiled looking up at the tall Turian that was all hers. "Scaring the hell out of prisoners everywhere."
Victus stepped into the lift with an amused snort as she followed behind standing on his left. "Why was his crest so short?" she asked shifting the topic casually.
"Young." Victus answered. "At about 20 it starts growing in a lot faster."
The left door closed and it reminded Sidda of the prime place they always flirted. "Hmmm…what else starts growing after 20?" she asked with a hint of a smile though he wasn't quite sure why she was flirting with this topic.
"Crest, mandibles, talons." He rattled off.
"And all of them are long on you." She said casually with a flirty smile as she didn't look at him. "You must be old." She giggled. He knew that giggle; she was teasing him and flirting with him at the same time.
Victus turned to her quickly and pushed her into the wall picking her up onto his hips bracing her against the wall. "Old my ass." He growled and she giggled at his display. This was the only time she was ever eye level with him and not sitting down. She kissed his lips and he dropped his mouth to her neck. She hummed an approval, it was the closest she ever got to a growl but he liked it. He gently nipped at her neck and then switched to the other side to repeat the act. She closed her eyes and smiled moaning softly at his attention while running her hands down his crest and over his carapace.
Apparently, neither of them realized that not only had the lift stopped but the door had opened as well. Sidda turned a bright shade of red hearing someone clear their throat and Victus quickly lowered her feet to the floor and stopped nibbling on her neck. She could swear the visible skin under his paint turned a darker shade of blue. He was blushing.
Maridus smirked at the two of them. "I didn't mean to interrupt, Sir, but your quarters are on Deck 3." He sniped and earned a silent glare from the General. Sidda found it funny and giggled making Maridus snort.
"Back to work." Victus barked to the various crew members and techs that paused to witness the PDA in the lift.
Nov walked with Cerrus and Tali down to the breached area where Ruvvak and Kalvaris were sifting through the Geth parts to dispose of the threats and keep what might be useful. The room had been secured and that included any depressurization from the hull breach with a mass effect field, and the boarding craft pulled away by Balin in one shuttle then towed back to the loading bay. It was still a bloody mess, scoring marks, bullet holes, and decent explosive damage but nothing overly critical.
"Wow." Tali stated to the damage and the number of Geth parts.
Ruvvak looked down and cocked his head, not sure where the hell a Quarian came from but then noticed a rather battered Cerrus behind her. "Who's the Quarian?" he asked to both Cerrus and Nov rather rudely in Tali's presence.
Tali was growing tired of that typical question people asked everyone but her in her presence. "My name is Tali." She grumbled, annoyed.
"She's here to do what Quarians do best, examine Geth." Nov stated as she was already picking through the first Trooper she came to. "Might I suggest the Destroyer, My Dear? Very stout. Excellent year…bit of kick though."
Cerrus bristled to Nov's smooth attitude toward anything female and leveled a glare at Nov that he could feel out of the corner of his eye.
"Damn," Ruvvak muttered loud enough for the three to hear while looking Tali up and down as she bent over a Geth. "she's cute."
Cerrus' glare was redirected to the demolitionist. "Linus, shut up."
His tone made Nov's brow furrow as he cocked his head at Cerrus then glanced to Tali and back again. "Hot damn! He likes her!" he thought to himself and hoped he didn't say that out loud or he was going to out the airlock same as the disabled Geth parts.
Tali ignored whatever the boys were chatting about as she examined what was left of the Destroyer. "You guys really kicked the crap out of this thing." She muttered.
"That's what we do, My Dear." Nov said, obviously hearing the comment and earning another vile glare from Cerrus.
Tali shook her head and looked at the closest Turian, a barefaced one who hadn't aid anything to her yet. "Can you help me turn it over?"
Kalvaris nodded but one Turian wasn't going to flip a demolished Destroyer over in a timely fashion so he beckoned for the others. Now, four Turians were generally considered overkill but the job got done. She pulled the knife from her ankle sheath and dug around in the machine to pull its memory core.
"Anything useful?" Cerrus asked squatting down next to her looking over her shoulder.
"It's memory core. By the damage it's probably worthless but I'll pull the others and see what I find." She stated and Cerrus nodded.
"Anything I can do to help?" he asked and she giggled. He was no tech and she knew that.
"Umm…I'm pretty sure you didn't attend the technical engineering classes that I did, Tyr." Nov said and peered down at what Tali was doing. "Can you show me how to remove that?"
Cerrus observed as Tali quickly showed Nov how to pull a memory core and sent him off on his own. She was truly fascinating and beautiful, she knew what she was doing and wasn't afraid to snap at Ruvvak for being rude. Maybe some of his attitude was rubbing off on her.
By the time everything was collected Tali had six decent memory cores to sift through once she got onto the Normandy. The Lante was the first Turian frigate she'd ever been on and she didn't mind being surrounded by Turians. They were all actually really nice but she enjoyed the fact that Cerrus never drifted far, like her very own guard Varren.
Nov trotted after Cerrus as he made his way to his quarters on the Lante. "Hey." He called catching up to him. "So…" he began with an obvious smirk.
"So what?" Cerrus replied.
"Oh, don't play with me." Nov chuckled as Cerrus increased his pace. "You like her. I mean you really like Tali." He stated. "What's not to like really, she's sweet, smart, cute…fills out that suit-…"
Cerrus stopped suddenly turning to face him. "Do not make me knock you on your ass, Callus." He threatened and Nov patted his arm. Nov tended to be a little crude but he was never demeaning toward females so a comment like that was meant to get a reaction out of him and it worked. Damn Nov was good.
"You really do like her." He stated and nodded but also noticed Cerrus wasn't playing around. "My apologies, Tyr, I didn't mean to be rude."
Cerrus was growling a little, he didn't like Nov talking about Tali like that and it showed as the younger officer ducked his head to submit. With that Cerrus started walking again and Nov quickly chased him down again. "So…how's my lovely Sidda?" he asked and Cerrus shook his head with a snort.
"Give it up, Cal." He stated floored that Victus hadn't eviscerated him yet.
Nov couldn't do that, he tried but she was an addiction he couldn't kick. "Never." He answered.
"You don't and cross the line, he'll kill you." Cerrus said and Nov already knew that. Nov decided to change the subject.
"So how is it on the Normandy?" he asked as Cerrus opened his quarters. "Kinda like a Sidda role reversal."
Cerrus started sifting through his locker pulling items out and tossing them onto the bunk. "Not my first, second, third, or last choice of assignments." He murmured and Nov cackled as Carrus started stuffing the various items into a bag quickly. He paused and hesitantly took a holo-image of Anara out of his locker. He took a moment to look at it for the millionth time and then put it into the bag as well. "Can you help me get my backup armor onto the Normandy?" he asked and Nov nodded.
Victus was uncomfortable with her going after Saren to begin with but after this bold attack on a Hierarchy ship he was downright worried. "Sidda, please watch yourself." He said quietly practically pleading it. "He went after us. A Hierarchy ship. A Palaven Fleet ship like he was ordering breakfast. Saren is dangerous."
Sidda felt him nervously take her right hand in his. "I know. He's not going to get the drop on me."
Victus wanted to protest more but thought better of it as she guided his head down to her level giving him a kiss to try to soothe his worry. He relented, but still didn't want her to go. "I love you." He said quietly laying is forehead on hers.
"I love you too." She replied and reluctantly turned from him heading back to the Normandy.
Cerrus was silent and respectful as he passed his General on the way back onto the Normandy after a second trip spent collecting a few things he thought he might need now. "Tyr." Victus called as his loaned officer passed by him.
Cerrus knew what he was going to say and saved him the trouble. "You don't need to say it, Sir." He said. "I got her."
Victus gave him a single nod. That, he trusted.
Tali had been so consumed by the half dozen memory cores she dug out of the Geth she'd lost all track of time and even forgot to eat. Her stomach growled loudly in engineering as she went through the fourth core. Sighing she cursed at it quickly and took a break. It had been hours since the Normandy departed from the Lante leaving it in the care of the PFS Havincaw.
As she passed through the Cargo Bay heading for the lift she could see Cerrus working on something he'd brought from the Lante. She snorted as she rode the lift up to the Crew Deck certain that the man never slept. It was late so she had no company in the mess hall and didn't feel like eating alone, not with Cerrus down stairs alone. She took two Dextro rations out and heated them up, they were new rations and hopefully better. These ones came from Victus as a gift for her, Cerrus, and Garrus. They sure smelled better than the cheap ones Sidda grabbed from the Citadel. Both in hand she took them down the Cargo Bay making a reasonable assumption that Cerrus probably hadn't eaten either.
Cerrus had brought a few items back from the Turian ship with Victus' blessing. He raided Ruvvak's nest of explosives, after a year of being on board Cerrus was surprised at how much demolitions the Sergeant had been able to squirrel away and it actually made him laugh. He also took his Punisher and backup armor. He was focused on the modification he was working on but heard the lift and then smelled the food.
"I'm going to assume you haven't eaten, Tyr." Tali said and she'd be right, like her, he'd lost track of time doing that he was doing. He liked the idea that she called him by his first name and looked down at her seeing two ration packs. She offered him one and his expression softened and his mandibles relaxed. Closest anyone could get to a Turian smile.
"Thanks." He said kindly and took the plate dropping the tools he had in his other hand onto the bench.
"New armor?" she asked as he leaned on the gun bench digging into the meat and gravy that made him extremely hungry the moment he smelled it. Tali copied his position and began the slower process of putting the food through filters.
Cerrus shook his head. "It's for Garrus…if I can get him out of that C-Sec crap." He stated and Tali chuckled. "How's it going in there?"
The little Quarian shrugged. "Slow…" she groaned. "They're so damaged I don't think I'll get much from them." She stated and Cerrus wolfed down the food like he'd been trained to. "I don't think Nov and the rest were thinking salvage when they destroyed them."
Cerrus let out a soft chuckle. "Not with the way that room looked." He agreed and glanced down at her as he placed the empty plate on the bench. "You need a break." He decided keeping his eyes on her as she kept eating. She looked up at him almost sheepishly. "Why don't you hang out here with me for a while…I could use the company."
Tali didn't mind that but would prefer to get him away from busy work too. "I saw you the other day," she began as he returned to finishing the upgrade to the armor. "sparring with Kaidan…"
Cerrus looked to her with a slightly puzzled expression. "You want to spar?" he asked and she smiled under the mask. His whole left arm still hurt because of Ashley trying to rip it completely out of its socket from his hand. His hand also still hit after missing the Chief completely and hit the Mako instead.
"If you're up to it." She said with a giggle. "I know a little but could always use some more instruction." Another smile from Cerrus was obvious but he waited for her to eat.
When she finished she studied the Punisher that was laid out on the bench waiting patiently for its turn to have Cerrus baby it. She picked it up and found it heavier than she thought it would be, not as heavy as some of the shotguns she'd tried but she couldn't hold it steady as she aimed it. Cerrus looked over at her stopped what he was doing.
"You ever used a sniper rifle before?" he asked and Tali lower the heavy weapon shaking her head.
"No. I'm better with shotguns and pistols." She replied as he moved around to her gesturing for her to raise it again. She complied as he moved around behind her, his giant frame dwarfing hers. She felt his arms cover both of hers, placing her hands where they needed to be to hold the weapon properly.
"The key…to a sniper rifle…is how you hold it." He said as Tali felt his hands on her body. She liked it, a lot actually. "Hold it tight." He continued standing close enough to her to feel his body on her back. "But gentle." He purred. Tali's mind clouded a little as Cerrus' left hand dropped to a casual place on her waist. "Sight down to your target, take a breath, exhale, and gently squeeze the trigger." He continued but his purring tone was enough to damn near send Tali over the edge.
Cerrus felt her arms start to tremble due to the Punishers weight as he lowered his head to her right shoulder taking in a deep whiff of her scent. He would literally kill to get her real scent but he settled for the unique smell of her suit. He reached up with his right hand grabbing the weapon by the barrel taking it from her and setting it upright against the bench but didn't move from his current position. The sparring could wait, he actually preferred this. He returned his right hand to her but wasn't forward or rude; he just encircled her tiny waist with both his arms pulling her tight into him. She placed her hands on top of his arms simply enjoying the contact. "I think the sparring can wait." She said quietly. Those were his thoughts exactly and he chuckled softly remaining in the same position. He'd stay there until she had enough of him. The sparring could definitely wait.