Happy Hallow'een everyone! God probably disproves of your costumes. ;)
Thanks for the reviews Cali and Rec0n412! replies at the bottom.
Thanks to MassEffectFan1337 for the Alert and Fav! Im very grateful.
Once again, I don't own Mass effect or it's characters. I do, however own this Tardis Money tin with David Tennant soundbite, and a rather nice Bonsai tree which is dying very slowly. I've only owned it two days. Bad times.
The body of lieutenant Zadia Avari had been placed gently in the white ambient calm of the Valiant's medical bay. Finn had decided to cryogenically freeze the body to preserve her, and then with a single, painful gaze, had left her to rest in peace.
In the middle of the night cycle, when the bright sterile lights of the medi compartment had been softened to more far more tolerable orange glow, Captain James Rhyder quietly stepped into the room to pay his respects.
He took a moment to pull out Finn's swivel chair from under his desk and sat himself down gently by Zadia's motionless head.
She was lying peacefully on the narrow examination couch, arms folded over her chest to disguise the trauma of the damage she had sustained. It almost made her look like a marble effigy on a stone tomb from the old days. Her skin was pale and shimmered due to the thin veil of freezing mist that surrounded her. The Cryogenic field shimmered occasionally, maintaining the frozen temperature of the body.
He wanted to say he was sorry. God knows he wanted to.
But what was the point?
Zadia Avari was dead.
Whatever had made Zadia the person she was, that bravery, that fiery humour; the fierce intelligence that had made such an amazing soldier… had left forever.
It was something Rhyder would never, ever understand.
She was dead.. Just like so many others Rhyder had served with over the years. Young, impressionable but brilliant soldiers. All of them handpicked by command itself to serve aboard the Valiant. To protect the galaxy. And they had died. Only to be replaced. To be forgotten. But not Rhyder. He had endured.
What right did he have to survive?
Finn Stewards was working sullenly on the damaged airlock door. Mia had been pointed in the direction of the engineering section by Anya, and had left to poke around their engines.
Finn was far too exhausted to give a damn about what that stupid girl was doing down there. As long as she stayed out of his way for the time being, he wasn't bothered.
He groaned inaudibly as he took in the scale of the job he had facing him. The outer bulkhead was heavily distorted, it's once smooth silver lines crumpled and pocked like a Krogan's face, Causing the running tracks for the main airlock to jam when the V.I attempted to close it. He had the experience and tools to fix it, no fucking problem, but he had just been sitting there leaning on the ruined airlock with his forehead resting on his forearm for the past half an hour.
All he could think about was Zadia.
All he could hear was the Geth's grating machine language as it gunned her down without a care for its own survival, her screams filling the ship. Staining it.
His arm slipped, and he grunted in pain as his knuckle hit the harsh metal grating on the deck. He swore loudly and threw his Omni-spanner across the room, where it hit the floor with a heavy clang.
"Careful." said Anya. The spanner had narrowly missed her head as she smartly entered the room.
Finn shrugged an apology and shook her head. "I can't do this."
"You have the capability, doctor stewards. You and I have been taking this ship apart and putting it back together for the best part of two years."
"No, it's not that," Finn sighed. "I mean… damn it- I don't know what I mean."
"You have said yourself in the past, that all we can do is fight to survive." Said Anya, stooping down to pick up the spanner and coolly inspecting it for damage. "We could all die tomorrow. You know that. The Captain knows that. Zadia knew that."
"She was only twenty-one, Anya. Twenty-one!"
"I know." Anya sat down on the floor opposite Finn and reached into the breast pocket of her uniform. She produced a small metal flask, unscrewed the lid and took a sip.
"I do not normally approve of this sort of thing, but I advise you to take a sip." She passed it to Finn, who sniffed it gingerly with a arched eyebrow.
"What the hell is this?"
"My mother gave it to me on shore leave last year. Said I should use it to keep myself warm." She smiled slightly at the memory. "It's a very old drink from Earth. Highly expensive due to its rarity. Mother was always a far larger drinker than myself, but it does not mean I do not appreciate something precious."
Finn raised the flask, swallowed, and then choked.
"What the hell is that? It has quite the kick."
"I suppose you could consider it medicinal."
Finn took another sip and gagged.
"What is it?"
"I believe it's called "Ginger beer."" smiled Anya, taking the small silver flask and inspecting it. "I promised myself I would save it for a special occasion. Be it good or bad."
Finn took the flask back and had a sip.
"To Zadia Avari – Lieutneant of the Echoes."
"To Zadia."
Finn and Anya sat in companionable silence for a moment, passing the flask back and forth. Eventually Anya put the lid back on and stowed it away with unsurprising care.
"What do you make of that Quarian?" Finn asked after a moment.
"You do not approve of her, do you?"
Finn sniffed. "And you do?"
"I am concerned about having an Alien on board the Valiant, yes. Such a thing goes against dozens of regulations. However, it is Rhyder's decision. And we must trust that."
Finn lent slightly closer, the spicy drink on his breath. "Yeah, but what do YOU think?"
"She knows a lot about the Geth. She could be a useful resource for the brief time she is here."
"Don't all the Quarians just live on the flotilla or something?"
"Not all," Anya replied. "Some go on pilgrimages to locate prizes to return to the migrant fleet, others are simply making their lives somewhere else, with little or no contact with their species."
"I guess" said Finn. "It's just, whatever the hell she's planning - she's brought us nothing but bad luck."
Mia had decided that there was little point in sitting in the galley of the Valiant, waiting for Finn to throw out of the airlock as shedid nothing but looking a little morose. She was anxious to explore the ship, it had been a full year since she had been aboard any sort of large ship, and couldn't resist seeing human engineering first hand.
The first place she went was the engine room. According to what the V.I had told her (it had been difficult, everything seemed classified for some reason) The Valiant was only a second generation Alliance patrol frigate. She was small, but Mia had quickly noted that the ship packed far more power than it should.
Far more power.
Mia wondered what kind of Element Zero core the Valiant possessed. Not many second generation Alliance patrol frigates had element Zero cores, and had therefore been broken down for parts decades ago.
The engine room was at the rear of the ship, the closer Mia got to the large thrusters, the more she could feel the vibrations though her environment suit. The noise level was increasing to, becoming a constant wailing in her ears as she advanced. Mia thought she could detect a slight irregular beat coming from the coolant pumps, and a flicker of curiosity – it almost certainly meant a problem with the fusion torch engine. Perhaps she could fix it, or improve it and repay some of the debt she owed to the ships small crew.
"Captain wants to see you, Quarian."
Mia jumped in her skin and turned to see Finn, leaning on a hand rail. His face plain.
"I'll… get going then?"
Finn didn't move.
"You're a long way from the flotilla, Quarian."
"And you're a long way from Earth, Human." Mia replied coolly. The word Flotilla caused a icy spear to stab through her heart.
Finn gave a snort, and his face contorted into a glare.
"If you want me to see the captain, then I advise you to move." She said simply.
"You just remember Quarian. Zadia was part of this crew, and our friend. You're neither."
And then he simply turned and led her down the passageway without a second glance.
Mia quietly opened the door to Captain James Rhyder's office. It was sparsely decorated, with a single desk in it's centre behind which the captain sat. A second table ran the length of the left wall and was absolutely covered in dozens of objects of varying size and origin. Her Quarian eyes spotted several Omni-tool converters of exotic design, a single M-4 shuriken with customised sights; several blank photo frames which would reveal their contents when they registered the owners thumb print; Something that looked distressingly like a Krogan skull; a carefully folded grey greatcoat that Mia recognised from Sarian; a chequered board covered in different sized figures set in opposing rows; a bottle of dark liquid marked with a label proclaiming it a "Legacy White Shear"; Some kind of flashing red cube mounted on a plinth; A long sharp object that looked like a sword (Mia had heard of ninjas. Didn't they use swords? Or something?) and a pile of other objects and trinkets that defied categorisation.
Rhyder was sitting at his desk, idly cleaning his machine gun with a clean rag. A little bizarre, didn't they have any automated equipment for this sort of thing? He looked up as she entered.
"Hi Mia, come on in." he said, smiling warmly.
She nodded and sat in a chair he had gestured to.
"How you feeling?"
"I was about to ask you the same."
They both chuckled quietly, Mia took a moment to admire the impressive observation window's stunning view, pointedly avoiding looking the human in his eyes.
"Thank you for your input on Sarian. Quite a bit of tech wizardry, figuring out the place was a Geth outpost - I've worked with Quarians before. Captain by the name of Ysin'Mal Vas Idenna and his crew. Good, dependable people. I'm glad to see you follow their example."
Mia smiled weakly under her helmet. "You don't have to thank me Captain; you saved my life as well- Will you tell the alliance?"
"Sent it with the…" he frowned slightly. "…Casualty report."
"I'm sorry."
"Me too." He said simply, as he placed his machine pistol on the desk and got up to place several amazingly brittle looking documents in a safe tucked order the cluttered table. They were browned and stained, as if they had been abused by the elements for the past century. Mia squinted at the faded text and caught the first several words, which her translator instantly deciphered.
Echoes Report (Index 876-09-ZE)
Cerberus: Hades' Dogs - (Unknown location - Tracking )
Normandy: N7 - (Executive Officer Z.S - Maintain observation)
Vir: BP - (Data recovered. Await confirmation)
Mia frowned at the words. Was it code? Not much of it held any meaning to her. Except perhaps, "Dogs" which she was fairly sure was a Popular meal on Earth. Ancestors, she needed to do some research.
"However, despite everything, I've no doubt we'd probably all be dead now without your input."
Mia looked up at Rhyder, her thoughts mumbled and confused.
"Hmm…? Oh!- oh. No, It was luck really."
"I'll take luck anytime it's offered," Replied Rhyder. "So again, thank you. The second thing is, I owe you an apology."
"What for?"
Rhyder gave a sigh as he sat himself back down. "I just left you aimless and alone on my ship. Zadia's death knocked us all hard, and Finn- well. Finn is pretty hot-headed at times. You're a guest on this ship, and I left you to float around like a spare part. Not to say the Valiant couldn't do with some spare parts-"
"Oh this ship is so wonderful!" Mia replied. And she meant it. The more she studied the Valiant, the more advanced and well designed it was. A feat of engineering under a ugly skin. "She reminds me of the ships in the migrant fleet. So well loved and cared for."
Suddenly Anya's voice blared from an intercom on Rhyder's desk
"Just entering the Utopia system now Captain."
"Great, Thanks Anya," Rhyder replied. "Let me know when we're coming into orbit."
"Aye Aye captain."
Rhyder turned his attention back to Mia.
"We can drop you off on Eden Prime if you like; you can get a shuttle back to the migrant fleet from there."
"I… Er…"
Rhyder raised an eyebrow. "Anything wrong?"
Mia shuffled in her seat uncomfortably. With a gut awful wrench of a realistation, she suddenly remembered the predicament she was in. She had lost her ship, her funds, her home. She had… nothing.
"I don't actually know where the fleet is. It's been three years since I left, and besides…"
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if you might let me stay." She said quickly.
Rhyder's eyebrows shot up towards his spiky dark fringe. Mia wasn't sure if that was a positive or negative reaction to her request. Damn the translator not having the capacity for body language.
"I mean, I'm decent in a fire fight- you saw! I can-"
"I'm sorry Mia. But you can't. You really can't. I wish I could explain to you why this has to be, but believe me when I say that it's best for both of us if we go our separate ways."
Mia quickly stood up, anxious to leave the office, her face burning.
"It's alright, you don't have to explain."
"Mia-"
Rhyder looked as if he was about to follow her but before she reached the door the intercom on Rhyder's cluttered desk bleeped again. And Anya's voice crackled though:
"Captain, we're just coming into orbit around Eden Prime…"
Both Mia and Rhyder heard the anxious tone in her voice.
"What's up?" asked Rhyder.
"Something's wrong," Anya replied, her nervous voice betraying her.
"Something is very, very wrong. You better come here Captain. Eden Prime is burning."
Yep, there was a Dragon Age reference in that. Treat yourself to a cookie if you spotted it.
Cali - aww thanks so much! I'm glad i restarted as well, Tis an improvemnt, no? Thanks, as always my friend for the review.
Rec0n412 - The orginal Idea for Echoes (and this was well over a year ago now) was to avoid having Shepard as a main character. Why? Becuase every Shepard is different, either in personality or appearance. There are some FANTASTIC shep-Centric stories on this site, but theyre not MY shepard. So i set out to write a story that avoided that issue. However, I'm a massive hypocrite and she is mentioned several times. haha.
I take all suggestions to improve this story very seriously. PM is always open!
Thanks for reading everyone! Reviews are welcome as always!
I havnt forgotton Blood Of The Magi. I'm still working on it, spending an hour or so a night. New chapters for both that and Echoes coming very soon