Time: Homecoming Ch. 2-3
POV: Mat'al Delern
Recommended Chapter(s) : Up to Homecoming: Ch. 3
No. of Chapters for Tale: 1

Backstory: The Starquake has stopped in Illium to pick up the final members of the new Starquake crew. However, mesmerised by the city, her real first functioning city on a planet, Endellion Shaik is not so aware of her surroundings. Neither are her crew, apparently.

Chapter 2 and 3 were originally written in Dell's POV. This POV will show the reaction of the crew to her disappearance. This chapter starts just before the crew leave the Starquake and step onto Illium.

I scoured over the mission brief, the map and the crew to ensure nothing was awry. I couldn't afford any wasted time, we had far, far too much at stake. I may like to torture Dell every now and then to keep her on her toes, to remind her of what she had to become, but even I had been neglecting in that field since the problems with the computer banks arose. I should try to get back drilling Dell though, I suppose even now I was afraid she would falter back to her old cowardly self. My training seemed to have stuck, bless the Wheel, but I was less informed of her emotional training. Lapses were still occurring to my dismay, although the stress was showing a different side to the girl.

On Sur'Kesh, Dell had been reasonably even tempered, even cheery. I would stumble into her signing more than once, much to her embarrassment. However, these days she seemed angry, too ready for something else to go wrong, for something to punch or break just to free herself a little. The number of times I heard her scream with Indira bouncing nearby was incredible, I didn't think she had the capacity to hold that much anger.

The girl finally appeared, looking a touch brighter than earlier, some tension finally eased from her shoulders. The landing must have taken a great deal of weight from her, must have given her some assurances the ship wasn't a complete death trap. She did a quick headcount as she arrived, rolling her shoulders as she pulled herself into some semblance of authority. I waited for her words to come.

"Everyone ready?" she asked. A general nod ran throughout the gathered crew: Valérien – who quite frankly irritated every nerve with his cocky attitude, Indira – who borderline terrified me with her volcanic bubbly nature, Jacques – who was relatively quiet and kept to himself and Aroqoul – the dusty red salarian shifted his eyes excitedly, now if only he could keep himself under control. Since no one was going to voice it, I may as well, I resigned with a sigh.

"We are. And remember, Endellion," I pressed, silently thanking myself that she straightened her spine at her full name. She sighed slowly.

"Don't wander off, don't pull a gun out, don't sign anything, don't make eye contact with anyone, don't talk to anyone, we collect the scientists and are back on the ship ASAP," she relayed almost perfectly. I blinked slowly, studying her body language. She seemed relieved, still quite stressed and a little bit excited. Not a good combination for going onto Illium, if I was perfectly honest. It caused too many lapses in concentration. "I'll be careful," she added when she noted my look. I frowned a touch. That alone wasn't convincing. Her 'careful' was usually to bulldoze anything in her way.

"We shall see," I replied plainly, dreading them as soon as I said them. This girl had so much to learn…

Dell started the mission, marching us forward until the Starquake was behind us, the engineers already carefully removing Engine 2. Dell glanced around the dock, curiosity winning her over. I brought out my omni-tool as I brought up the map of Illium. We had a good 15 minute hike to get to the location where the scientists were waiting for us. I took a quick glance the delicate skyscrapers before forgetting them. I had to lead the team, the others could make sure Dell didn't do anything stupid.

I led the team through the bustle, weaving around the multitude of asari and volus, ignoring their cries as they tried to attract sales. I nearly stepped on a particularly vocal volus. I led the team ducking under a 6 story arch to traverse under some skyscrapers to reach a bridge over to another block. The delicate looking bridge had an arc curling at each end, cables running from this crescent to the footbridge. I glanced at a speeding skycar before turning my gaze ahead. Most of Illium was raised far above the planet's surface, bridges, walkways and other means to traverse the vast gaps between the skyscrapers were necessary.

Just get to the scientists. That was my goal. As soon as Dell was back on the Starquake where she couldn't hurt herself, the better. And the better for myself as well. These scientists need briefed on the situation and I could resume my work to drag these servers into some semblance of workability. There was far too much at stake for me to fail now. I breathed deeply. All of this had to be running smoothly, for the future of this entire operation and, in part, for Dell's sake. I'll admit, when I decided Dell was the girl for the job of Captain, I was fully aware that she was completely against the whole notion. Kicking her into the rule had been simple. Training her, moulding her into position, however, was something I couldn't kick into her. And prolonged stress was detrimental to growth. I didn't need to ruin her potential.

I turned down a street, aiming for a lounge down at the bottom of the extensive road. My unfortunate oversight, I sighed as my mind wandered, was bringing everyone else into the meeting when I forced Dell into the Captain's seat. Because I had, I now had to deal with a stubborn, cocky turian with an authority issue, an insane drell that seemed permanently on a sugar rush and a quivering and terrified quarian who would probably never be able to handle the same transformation Dell had. Raisha was a sensible woman, but I had no information on her leadership background. Nevertheless, she did seem to help Dell in terms of confidence. I did stumble upon one of their meetings about the issue. I was quickly shooed.

What to do with the other 3 though…Wheel forgive, what did I do to deserve this?

I was comforted when we entered the lounge, the quiet bar lacked the neon lights of most other bars. It was an 'old man's club' in a way, but it was a club that was usually empty and was easy to spot everything. The bright, light brown wooden room only had a handful of asari and 2 humans, lounging on the plush red chairs as they waited for us to arrive. All were the scientists I had requested. Upon our entrance, the group of aliens immediately perked.

"Eshoria, Eriea, Sallis, Henry, Alice, Mari, Riena, Sherin, thank you all for meeting here," I opened studying the group before me. Some were contacts that I had made on several missions, others were people have I worked with in the past. All were skilled in their duties, just the kind of skill I needed to help pull this damn thing off. They wandered over, smiling in greeting.

"Hey, it's what we do. So, what's the mission this time?" Henry grinned, the dark skinned human dropping a hip.

"I'll allow the captain to explain that," I smiled coolly, turning behind me to push…Where was Dell? My expression dropped as I scanned the room quickly, failing to catch sight of the flame haired girl. I turned to the ground team behind me. "Where's Dell?" I asked as calmly as possible, a tightness forming in my chest. Indira and Val shared a look, eyes shifting around the room.

"She might be outside looking at the sights! I'll go check!" Indira bounded away out the door. I popped my jaw slightly, dread mounting with each second. I tapped my foot as the seconds passed, the tension only growing, becoming ever heavier and colder. I should have kept an eye on her, I knew I was hoping for too much for everyone else to keep an eye on her!

And of all the places to lose her, all the places for her to either get separated or wander off on, Illium was the worst choice, I would even prefer for her to get lose on Omega before here! A ran a hand down my cheeks, folding my arm tightly over my chest. Illium looked like a safe, ordinary planet but the corruption ran deeper than on Omega, deeper than Noveria. People would swindle you out of your own life if they could get away with it…oh Wheel, what if she signs something? She's already broken one of my rules already! I began pacing, the agitation ignited by stress. Indira slipped in, lips compressed together.

"M-Maybe she's in the bathroom?" she offered. A vein nearly popped in my head.

"I told you to watch her!" I snapped. Indira sweated slightly.

"I-I saw her stop to look at the sights for a second by the dock b-but I thought she would be right behind me!" Indira stammered, offering a sheepish smile. My anger was melting my frozen exterior, stress and panic overwhelming me. I couldn't lose her, dammit, I couldn't lose her!

"And you didn't say anything?!" I roared. Indira froze, that awkward half smile on her face. I glared at the rest of the ground crew, grinding my teeth. Val rubbed the back of his head for a moment.

"There's a tracker in her armour," he finally spoke. I snapped my gaze to him as he brought out his omni-tool. He glared under my gaze. "Hey, you put one in her Locust," he defended hotly. I growled.

"To which she has since removed and I have not been given an opportunity to replace it," I seethed. Val rolled his eyes before studying his omni-tool.

"She seems to be down in some warehouse distract in the south side," Val clicked his mandibles. "How the hell did she get all the way down there?"

"The Averana District? But that is crawling with mercenaries right now," Sherin frowned. I slowly turned to the albino salarian. "I even heard rumours of the Shadow Broker having agents down there too,"

Shadow…Oh Wheel forgive, if they learn Dell is a Saboteur they would- I dug through the omni-tool in my hand, a panic almost blinding. We couldn't lose Dell! Dammit, if we lost her, everything is up in the air! And I…No, I couldn't lose her. I couldn't lose my one chance at redemption! I paced violently as the call connected, almost burning the wooden floor when Raisha appeared on the screen before me. She frowned immediately.

"Dare I ask what happened?" she opened with.

"Dell wandered off," I began, my voice strained. Raisha sighed heavily. "Knowing her, she's neck deep in trouble. We have a lock on her location and we need as many guns down there now. If the Shadow Broker gets his hands on her-" I couldn't finish before Raisha narrowed her eyes.

"Shadow Broker?" she echoed. She pulled herself straight. "I see. I shall send every person we can spare. Give us the co-ordinates," she ordered. I was already typing them.

"Co-ordinates on the way. We're heading down there now," I answered, ending the call. I turned to the new crew members, all baffled. "Unfortunately, our captain is relatively inexperienced. She loves to get herself into trouble," I sighed, breathing to steady my hand. "If you are armed, come with me, I need to pull her ass out of the possible fire she's jumped herself into," I grumbled, storming for the door.

Val led the group as we navigated the swell and ebb of the crowd, battling our way down to the warehouse district as quickly as we could. All through it all, I was consciously aware of time. Every second we got held up by a group of volus was another second the Shadow Broker had to get his hands on her. Every second she was separated from us was another opportunity for her to forget everything we had worked so hard to achieve. Every second was another opportunity for her to get herself killed.

We ran into the backup just as we entered the Averana District as we zoned in on Dell's location. Raisha had been true to her word, only the engineers seemed to be missing. My heart sank when a wild popping sound rang in the air. The gunfire from inside a group of warehouses rang loud, the sound freezing my blood but steadied my hand. I pulled the shotgun out as we began our careful skirmish inside these buildings. Inside the main door, which had been left slightly ajar, was a bloodbath. I frowned a touch, noting a biotic aura still sparking over a few bodies. Dell couldn't use biotics, it was impossible for her without disruptor ammo. She must be with someone…but who would she just randomly join, someone who was a biotic? I grit my teeth as we reached the end of the first warehouse, the gunfire ahead now silent.

The second was equally as bloody, equally as empty. I breathed slowly. At least Dell wasn't falling prey to these people, able to deal with anything in her way. That relieved some of the stress in a way. I slowly reached the end, into a narrow doorway leading into a nearly empty room lit by a sole light dangling high in the air.

Empty apart from Dell and a pale asari surrounded by several dozen armed people.

I battered down the panic, cooling my head. My hand steadied as I froze everything, everything but common sense and instinct. Dell was in danger now, as I anticipated. I had hoped she wouldn't fall into anything sort of trap but…but I suppose that was too much for the Wheel to weave for me. I breathed slowly, examining the room. I recognised the asari, Liara T'Soni from the Normandy. That answered the biotic question. I backed away from the door, scanning the room for anyway to get into the room without being seen, eyes falling some stairs leading the upper walkway. There was a door up there leading into Dell's room.

I nodded my head to it, slowly easing myself up the metal steps quietly. The crew followed wordlessly, guns ready but low as we skulked along. Up on the walkway, we tiptoed into the room. I flicked a hand down to the left as I slid up to the right. Val went left, the crew split up like a zip as we crawled into the barely lit room, a perfect view of how much trouble Dell truly was in. I counted 51 people surrounding Dell with a bulky salarian pacing before her. I began to get people lined up, ready to aim. We had to have the element of surprise if Dell was going to survive-

"Fuck!" Dell swore loudly. Everyone leapt through the roof in surprise. My own heart rocketed against my chest, despite my better judgement. Her pistol flew out of her hand to clatter on the ground a good 10 or so feet from her, her hands buried in her flame coloured hair. "Goddam it, Nyryntha! Pack it in, you useless piece of shi- Ahhh!" Her whole body trembled as her knees finally caved, her muscles twitching violently. She nearly rolled on the floor, gagging on the pain, desperate for air. I barely breathed, I don't think anyone did. She grit her teeth, a stubbornness setting her jaw. "Oh, fuck off already! Not while I still draw breath!" She bellowed at the sky. After a second, she seemed to just collapse on the ground, puffing for air.

"Dell?" the Liara called, distress contorting her face. Dell slowly managed to pull her hands away from her head, utterly winded.

"I-I'm ok. I'm fine. Bloody Reaper," She forced a laugh. "S-She doesn't like me all that much,"

Dell managed to push herself into a sitting position, but she swayed wildly, eyes rolling in her head slightly as she tried to orient herself. We couldn't wait now. I clenched the shotgun a little tighter. If Dell's history with these 'Reaper Attacks' was to be trusted, she probably be too weak to defend herself now. What had set the Reaper off this time? I managed to catch Val's eyes on the other end of the long room. He nodded slowly, mandibles pinned tightly to his face as he eased himself to shoot over the banister. The crew mimicked him, slowly, cautiously.

We let hell rain down upon the encircling group.

I concentrated on those near myself, the assault rifles and pistols on those on the other side of this ring of people. My gaze slipped to Dell, cowering on the floor, arms flung over her head. Just stay low, I prayed, just keep your head down…As the bodies dropped, my earlier dread was easing. My hand steadied now that Dell was in a far safer position. We couldn't lose her. I couldn't lose her.

When the guns silenced with the last fallen Shadow Broker soldier, we straightened. Dell twitched, afraid to move her arms. She didn't look injured…I breathed slowly. Now that Dell was safe, I could relax…and absolutely hammer her face in for the year I probably just lost from my life! I began to lead the crew down, the other half waiting in case reinforcements arrived. My blood was beginning to melt the cool assassin, the enraged teacher now popping free. Just as I started down the stairs nearby, Dell slowly unfurled her arms, peeking around the room slowly. She snapped up straight, swaying as she took in the dead soldiers. Her gaze drifted upwards, finding Val. He grinned down at her in response.

"And this, Captain, is why we put a tracker in your armour," he chuckled at her. At first, Dell's face lit up, relieved to see a friendly face. Then she understood his words. Rage swept over her face, she even struggled to find her feet but her knees couldn't hold her. She collapsed back to the floor as she glared up at him.

"You've got a tracker on me!?" She roared venomously. I was on the floor now, covering the distance to her as the crew behind me fanned out to secure the room. "Relax, it's my crew. Here to save my worthless ass," she added to the asari behind her, Liara pale and gaping. Val smirked.

"Mat'al's idea," Val called down. Dell paused for a second. In that second, I grabbed her upper arm, hauling her to her feet. She turned to me, her face paling as she saw me. She offered a sheepish smile as sweat began to pop free.

"Under normal circumstances," I began, nearly confounded by how much I was struggling to keep my voice calm. Damn this girl! "I would have shot your knees out. However, I think you've learned your lesson now, hmm?" She laughed nervously, probably noting my weakened control.

"J-Just like that crash course training on Feros then," she offered. I hmmed if only because I couldn't think of a better response that wouldn't have me capping her knees. This was nothing like Feros! I had Feros in a controlled environment, and the girl barely left my sight! My blood was boiling now, raging like an uncontrolled kettle.

"Indeed," I managed, releasing her arm for fear of crushing it. She staggered away until Liara caught her, holding her up. I waved a hand, signalling Shual and Verv to step forward. The salarian that had been speaking with Dell in the middle of the ring was still alive, although someone had taken his legs out of action. I would have to give them a raise for that. The krogan gave me a dry look before grinning at Dell. The pair grabbed the salarian.

"Whacha want done with him, Captain?" Verv asked. I stood by Dell's shoulder, ensuring my Mantis was ready should anything happen. I doubted a situation involving Dell going smoothly existed.

"Liara? You want this guy?" Dell asked.

"I could...borrow him for a while. Then you are free to do as you wish with him," Liara grinned as she holstered her pistol. I frowned a touch. Dell was down here…because of Liara? Oh, this girl was dead, utterly dead!

"Awesome. Shual, Verv, make sure my good friend here gets her answers. You can kill him when she's had enough," Dell ordered. The pair brightened and Shual punched his fists together, grinning wildly.

"And this, Captain, is why we follow you and not that skinny bastard behind you," Shual smirked. I spared him a frosty look as Dell sweated slightly beside me. She coughed a little before straightening.

"Thanks, Shual. Now, if you excuse me," Dell began, glancing to me out the corner of her eye "I believe I have some catching up to do with my commander here. Can you give Liara the details on where the Starquake is, Shaul?" Verv chuckled happily.

"Sure, Captain. No problem at all," Shual smirked at the salarian, the poor bastard trembling on their arms.

I nearly herded Dell out of the warehouse, making sure she didn't deviate from the quickest path back to the Starquake. We were going to have a long, long chat when we got back…